Turning Back the Wheels of Time
by Kitsura E
Summary: When they entered the time machine, Tsuna and his guardians expected to be back in Namimori, not Italy. With the dark mafia world watching their every move, they need to stick together in order to survive. It was fortunate that they at least had the 1st generation watching their backs, but little do they know, they are all playing right into Byakuran's hands.
1. Ch 1: The Start of it All

_**Disclaimer:**_No money is being made in the production of this story; it is merely a fan-made story. KHR belongs to Amano Akira-san.

_**Warnings for entire story: **_Violence, Hibari, Alaude, Daemon, and Mukuro (they deserve their own warning of course…), swearing, possible slight OOC, blood, mafia, darker themes at moments, slight angst sometimes, **spoilers up to latest chapter**, possible bad grammar ( Kitsura E: I am my own beta reader and fanfiction often screws up on uploading).

_**Timeline:**_Story starts right in the middle of when the 10th generation are being sent back and a couple of years after the the Vongola starts turning into a mafia group.

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><p><em>"Dreams"<em>

_'Italian'_

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><p>Above the Vongola hideout, the winds raged violently under the stark black sky as it slahshed relentlessly through the dark forest, frightening squirrels and other night creatures from their earlier peace. Dark storm clouds loomed above, ensnaring the sky in its violent, but protective grasp, and only a sliver of the moon could be seen through a slight gap before being covered again. Thunder boomed like a giant stomping across an open field.<p>

However, beneath the surface where the storm brew, the Vongola hideout lay hidden from prying eyes, as most of its occupants slept in blissful ignorance of storm above. Even Giannini, Spanner, and Shoichi, who were the only ones still wide awake preparing for the trip back to the past were in a relaxed state. No one was worried about anything for the moment, and why should they be? After all, they had beaten one of the most cunning criminals of their generation no matter how misguided he was. They had a right to let their guard down for just one day at least, and they were taking advantage of their well-deserved break and resting up.

That is to say, mostly everyone.

Soft whimpers and mumbling could be heard as a young brunette tossed and turned in his bed, his demeanor matching the panicked animals heading to shelter above ground, as he tried desperately to escape from his own nightmare.

_Ragged breathing cut through the silence in the forest as a person ran, stumbling as he tripped over a root sticking out from underneath the leaves._

_...Tsu...yoshi..._

_...Tsuna...shi...kun_

_Tsuna widened his eyes in fear as he heard the singsong voice nearing him from behind and hurriedly scrambled to his feet, continuing along the path that led to who-knows-where._

_The voice chuckled,"You..can't...scape...e."_

_Tsuna ignored the voice and blinked as he suddenly ran into a strangely familiar clearing. His heart gave a jolt as he realized it was the very same clearing he had beaten Byakuran. He winced as he slowly started forward. Even though he didn't want to acknowledge it, he knew that he had killed Byakuran. He had burned him to such a degree that not even his bones remained, and now his conscience was probably getting revenge on him by giving him this horrendous dream. But he didn't regret killing Byakuran. Yes, he felt horrible about it, but he knew it was necessary._

_He would do anything as long as it meant his family was safe. _

_Tsuna stopped mid-step when warning bells rang in his head and he moved to dodge the hand that had suddenly appeared from behind the shadows. Swiftly backtracking, he turned to face Byakuran and unconsciously gaped in surprise._

_If Tsuna had thought Byakuran to be insane before, the monster facing him now was without a doubt, a demented, psychotic demon._

_With his tattered, burnt clothes, dirty, singed hair, crazed eyes, and that more than a little creepy smile, he truly did look like a monster. Tsuna unconsciously took a step back as Byakuran took a step forward. He could clearly hear his voice now, but he wished he didn't._

_"Tsunayoshi-kun, I'm hurt. Did you really think you got rid of me that easily?"_

_Tsuna adamantly shook his head._

_"N-no, you're dead, everyone saw, you're not here." Tsuna closed his eyes and resolutely shook his head."T-this isn't real...it's j-just a dream, an illusion!"_

_When he opened his eyes again, Byakuran had disappeared, but the clearing was still there._

_He yelped in pain as a pale hand grabbed his hair and yanked his head backwards as another arm wrapped around his neck in an almost loving embrace. He gasped in pain and the teen widened his eyes when his gaze captured the wide and cruel smirk on his enemy's face. He didn't even sense his presence._

_Tsuna felt a chill run down his spine as Byakuran leaned down and shivered when warm breath hit his ears as Byakuran whispered._

_"'I' may have lost to you..." Byakuran chuckled gleefully and shadows seemed to spread across his face as his smirk widened and his teeth glinted in the dim light of the cleaning. _

_He tightened his grip,"...but **'I' haven't lost yet.**"_

_SNAP!_

"NO!" Tsuna screamed as he swiftly sat up, nearly giving himself whiplash in the process. He placed his hand on his neck, and nearly fainted in relief when yes, he was still breathing, yes, his neck wasn't broken, and most of all, he was still _alive._ Then, before he could contemplate on what just occurred, several things happened at once.

"JYUUDAIME!" Gokudera's panicked face popped over the side of the bunk bed and at the exact same time, the door slammed open.  
>"TSUNA!"<p>

"THE HELL BASEBALL FREAK?"

"Gokudera?"

"Yamamoto?"

"Eh?"

The three stared at each other in bemused confusion. Yamamoto had been making his way to the kitchen tot get a drink of water when he heard the scream and on pure instinct, he had rushed to get there.

"Um, is everything...alright...?"

Gokudera and Yamamoto both turned to look at Tsuna who blinked at the sudden attention.

"Eh? O-oh! Yeah, everything's fine." Tsuna sheepishly laughed and smiled at his friends."I just had a weird dream. S-sorry, if I woke you guys up."

Tsuna could tell by the looks on their faces that they hadn't bought what he had just said, but relented nevertheless.

"If Jyuudaime says so..."

"Haha, it's fine, I was planning to wake up soon anyway." None of them mentioned that it was probably 2 in the morning.

After a few seconds of debate, Yamamoto gave Tsuna an unreadable look before stepping out of the doorway and the door slid shut with a soft _swoosh_. Tsuna sighed and lied back down placing his arm over his eyes.

"Jyuu-"

"I'm fine Gokudera, really."

Tsuna could almost see Gokudera frowning in shame, at the fact that he couldn't help his boss. Honestly, he was very grateful to have such great friends. In the past he didn't have anyone who worried, or cared for him besides his mom, sometimes his dad if he was even around, or the occasional teacher who had long since given up on him. But at the moment he really didn't want to worry his friends about anything. Not when, they could finally return home.

Now that he was more in control of his thoughts, he felt a little stupid that he had overreacted over such a stupid dream. He had seen Byakuran get defeated with his very eyes, and Mukuro and Fran had even checked to see if it was an illusion. There was no way Byakuran could not have been defeated.

Tsuna turned over on his side.

But what the hell was that dream about?

**(Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam~EXTREME~Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam)**

_A few hours later..._

"Alright! Everyone here?" Irie Shoichi gave a quick glance around before nodding to himself. Good, so far everything was going according to the plan. Or at least he hoped it did. He sure as hell didn't spend the rest of yesterday working with Giannini and Spanner preparing just to have everything blow up in his face.

He cleared his throat and shouted over the cacophony of voices and tearful farewells to get everyone's attention"It's almost time, but first, I want everyone to leave their Vongola boxes here!" The bespectacled man let a small smile spread across his face as he watched everyone else.

It had been a few days after the final battle with Byakuran and everyone was worse for wear, but everything was finally back to the way it had been back before the Trinisette became unbalanced. Everything was finally over

...but for some reason, Shoichi felt a little uneasy.

He paused for a moment as he let his eyes roam over the equipment one last time, but shook the feeling off. He was probably just being overly paranoid because of everything that had happened so far. There was no need to over-think things and give himself another stomachache.

Once everyone had relatively calmed down, Shoichi turned towards the time machine," Okay, we're going to start the time warp and don't worry," he replied in response to the glances around the room, "the Arcobaleno will return once they've finished sealing the Mare rings of the past."

After he had finished punching in the coordinates, he paused and said," Oh, and before you leave..."  
>He then turned to Tsuna and his guardians not quite knowing what to say. "Thank you...for everything."<p>

Tunsa gave him a small smile in return.

"Goodbye."

The guardians gave various signs of acknowledgement, from Hibari's 'hn' to Ryohei's EXTREME reply.

Shoichi gave them a sincere smile and pressed the button that would start the time warp as he watched Tsuna, his guardians, and their friends disappear in a flash of light. Soon after, the arcobaleno and everyone's future selves returned, but Shoichi's uneasy feeling came back with a vengeance.

Then, everything went wrong.

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

Red lights started flashing and, everyone turned towards the machine, stupefied and disoriented from just returning. Spanner who was one of the first to gather back his wits, quickly turned towards his laptop, and started typing in codes, and figures, seemingly unfazed, but you could see that he was silently worried.

Shoichi whipped his head towards the arcobaleno," What's happening?"

Collonello looked grim,"We couldn't do anything when we were separated from the others, kora! I'm not quite sure what happened, but it seems as if Byakuran placed a fail safe on the chance that his plan didn't work, kora."

Hibari narrowed his eyes,"Explain."

Gokudera glanced between the _alive _Tsuna and arcabalenos including Reborn, and the time machine, not knowing what to ask first, and settled for,"What the hell is going on?" colorfully repeating Shoichi's earlier question.

Shoichi had a sudden flash of intuition,"No...it can't be..."

Collonello's imploring stare seemed to reinforce his thought, "This is just my opinion...but it seems as if the damn Byakuran modified the time machine so that Sawada and his guardians - basically those with Vongola rings - would not return to their correct time when they are sent to the past is used, kora!," he gestured twards the time machine that was now looming forebodingly on the wall. Its sinister face seemed to stare at them with mocking cruelty.

Mukuro smirked thoguh his eyes flashed dangerously," Kufufufu...so, assuming that he toyed with this machine to interrupt our past selves' trip, he might have also sent messages to his past self. In that case, that would allow that bastard's past self a second chance to take over the world because we - our past selves - will no longer be here to stop him." Everyone's eyes widened at the implications. Yamamoto looked over at Tsuna who was standing silently in the corner during the whole crisis, his eyes hidden under his bangs.

"Tsuna...have something up your sleeve like you always do?" Yamamoto smiled, as usual, though it looked very forced.

Most of the people in the room jerked in surprise, and almost in unison, turned so that they were looking towards their respective boss, and friend. Tusna looked at his friends and comrades, and smiled tiredly.

"This was not something I expected after waking up from that pseudo- death like state," his guardians besides Hibari, though slightly angry and hurt that their friend had not told them anything about his plan, looked shocked and worried that their boss, who had gone this far to stop Byakuran, had seemingly failed to stop him. It was impossible, they couldn't have failed after all they went through, it just wasn't -

"However..." Everyone looked up as that word silently brought about a feeling of hope throughout the room.

Tsuna gazed at the arcobaleno with an air of authority," I trust that you gave our past selves something for their hard work...?"

For the first time since the crisis started, the arcobalenos smiled. Fon answered this time instead of Collonello," Yes, including the sealing of the Mare rings, we also gave them the vongola boxes in a ring version and..." Everyone held their breaths" everyone who was in the battle of this timeline, their past selves received their future self's memories."

Gokudera's eyes widened," So that would mean..."

"That Byakuran would remember his future self's actions too..." Mukuro finished grimly.

Ryohei who had finally put the puzzle pieces together,"But how would that help us to the EXTREME!"

The others voiced their agreement through mumbled words.

Shoichi cleared his throat, and his stomach clenched in pain as he he saw everyone turn their heads towards him. Spanner, put his hand on Shoichi's shoulder encouragingly.

"In the past, Byakuran was more...normal, just like everyone else, kind even." Some of the guardians raised their eyebrows incredulously at that thought. "It's true though!"

"It's fine, we believe you," Tsuna voiced his thoughts. The other guardians resignedly nodded their heads. If their boss believed Shoichi, they would too. After all, Tsuna's Hyper Intuition was scarily accurate.

Shoichi nodded gratefully and nervously continued,"So...if Byakuran's 15 year old past self received his furture self's memories, if he saw what occured in the future, he wouldn't do what his future self did - that is, try to rule over all the universes. He would continue living his life, hopefully in a more normal way. If not, someone else would most likely stop him because he wouldn't be as powerful as he was in this time."

Yamamoto laughed humorlessly,"That's a bit of a gamble isn't it?"

"We have no other choice, but to trust our past selves..." Reborn spoke up for the first time."My past self will most likely be watching Byakuran, and Dame-Tsuna will always be Dame-Tsuna, that's why they will overcome this. Also, I know for a fact that our comrades will not leave things as they are and will definitely take some sort of action." Shoichi sighed, but nodded.

"That's true..."

Tsuna sighed," Was that a compliment, or an insult...?" Reborn smirked, but didn't answer.

A sense of understanding and acceptance was felt by everyone in the room.

"Haha, you're right, who can we trust if we can't even trust ourselves?" Yamamoto grinned genuinely.

"Hn." Hibari grunted.

"Tch" Gokudera scoffed,"If it's jyuudaime, then of course our past selves will overcome this."

"You're EXTREMELY right!" Ryohei pumped his fist in the air, and the girls smiled in agreement.

"Don't worry, I was called Lambo-sama for a reason. Past me will save everyone." Lambo waved his arm in the air dramatically and I-pin elbowed him in the ribs sighing.

"Some things just never change."

_"That's right,"_Tsuna thought as he watched his guardians and friends bicker amongst themselves,_"some things really never change."_

_"And once, our past selves return to the correct time frame...everything will go back to the way it was..."_

**(Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam~EXTREME~Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam)**

_400-some years in the past..._

Somewhere in Italy, the townspeople living near the Vongola mansion had the pleasure of seeing a spectacular light show as a black hole appeared out of nowhere, seemingly tearing apart the sky, as three sets of bright blue light flashed out from the hole, all scattering in different directions. Unfortunately, besides the townspeople, this also attracted unwanted attention from enemies, and...allies alike.

_'What was that?'_

_'Who cares, just execute the plan.'_

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><p><strong>AN: **Ahaha...it seems as if when I write my hands have a mind of their own. I just hope it turned out properly.

And as a side note, remember what everyone has said so far is just what they assume. There is no proof as of yet and anything that has been said may, or may not be true.


	2. Ch 2: Calm Before the Storm

**_A/N:_ **Here's the next chapter. I hope it's up to par with your expectations since I did this when I was a little short on time.

There will also be OCs in the story, but not many of them will play a major role. Only some will play a major role since I have no idea how I'm going to do an antagonist with canon characters, so if any of you are bothered, by all means press the back button.

As for pairings, I don't think there will be any except canon ones. I'm still trying to decide, but there's no yaoi. There's enough yaoi in all fandoms to satisfy all you fangirls and fanboys anyway :)

_**Disclaimer:**_No money is being made in the production of this story; it is merely a fan-made story. KHR belongs to Amano Akira-san.

_**Warnings for entire story:**_Violence, Hibari, Alaude, Daemon, and Mukuro (they deserve their own warning of course…), swearing, possible slight OOC, blood, mafia, darker themes at moments, slight angst sometimes,**spoilers up to latest chapter**, possible bad grammar ( Kitsura E: I am my own beta reader and might be acting up again).

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><p><em>Recap of Last Chapter<em>

Tsuna had a strange dream about Byakuran not yet being defeated even though he has. A few hours later, just as the people from the past are being sent back to their own time, a problem arises, and the 10 generation are not sent back to their own time. Their future selves and the arcobaleno presume that Byakuran planned a fail safe so that he will have a second chance at taking over all the parallel universes. Meanwhile, the 10th generation arrive in Italy through a wormhole right in the middle of an ambush.

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><p>A tree branch rustled as a small, fluffy bird flapped its way onto the limb, chirping sweetly. The resulting movement shook off some loose sakura petals and as they drifted softly to the ground, a cool breeze blew them across the gravel under warm, soothing rays that streamed out like wisps of mist. The street was serene and silent, a guardian of peace to the people that lived there. It was a beautiful day, but for one baby mafioso, he could in no way at the moment, find the day anywhere near peaceful, much less beautiful.<p>

Reborn, for the first time inmany years, did not know how to react when he returned with Basil, Kyoko, Haru, and I-pin, but no Tsuna, or his guardians. He did not know what happened, and if there was one thing he hated, it was not being in control of the situation. If a mafioso needed to know anything in the mafia, one thing he or she had to know was to always know the situation, and how to handle it, or else it might leave them bonding with the earth 6 feet underground, or tossed in a ditch on the side of the road. And that was if they were lucky.

All he remembered during the travel from the future to the past present was 'flying' through the time warp when things started going wrong. He couldn't exactly see anything that well per se besides the outline of everyone, but he did hear the panicked shouts of his companions, and before he could ask what was going on, he had seen everyone, excluding Basil, Kyoko, Haru, and I-pin get pushed away by an invisible force. He couldn't do anything about it at all, and that pissed him off greatly.

And now, Reborn thought as he stood at the gate to Tsuna's house…he was here. A few feet in front of the entrance to Tsuna's house with again – no Tsuna, nor his guardians.

He mentally sighed. The girls were probably going to ask what happened in a few moments after they crossed the distance between their house, and Tsuna's, but in the mean time, he had to quickly assess and amend the situation. The mafioso started striding purposefully towards the entrance when I-Pin finally said something.

"Where Tsuna and his friends?" I-Pin asked as she jogged to keep up with the hitman.

"They're around," Reborn replied, smirking like normal.

I-Pin frowned at this cryptic answer, but Reborn absolutely couldn't let anyone else besides the needed people know. If any enemy caught wind of the missing 10th generation, there would probably be a riot in the mafia world. He looked up as he caught sight of Sawada Nana hanging up laundry in the front yard.

"I'm back Maman." Nana paused in hanging up laundry and smiled warmly at Reborn as she saw him walking towards her, with I-Pin in tow. By now Reborn had came up with three theories:

1) Tsuna and his guardians were stuck in a different time because they were pushed away from the rest of the group in front of them. So assuming the farther you go, the more in the past you will be, they are in the past.

Which was not good at all.

2)They were still stuck in the time warp, traveling in an endless circle around time.

That in a way could be worse than the first.

3)Tsuna and his guardians were killed because of the sudden rift in the time warp.

That was much much worse than the first two.

However, call it a gut feeling, or whatever, he felt that it was the first theory, and not daring to think otherwise, in the time-span of 5 minutes, decided to keep an eye on the Byakuran of the past, since he was probably related to this mess, call Nono if he deemed necessary, though he really didn't want to, and look for Irie Shoichi in case their future selves had sent anything to the past present relating to this mess, but in the meantime –

"Ara, where are Lambo-kun, Tsu-kun, and his friends?"

He couldn't let anyone else get involved in this catastrophe.

"Dame-Tsuna and his guardians are out camping in the mountains, as a break for all their hard work from school." Reborn mentally snorted."They probably won't be back anytime soon."

And he had to keep faith that Tsuna and his guardians will come out of this mess unscathed.

"Oh, how nice! In that case, I better think of what foods to prepare for them when they come back!" Nana clasped her hands together joyfully as she resumed hanging up the laundry. I-Pin, though suspicious if what Reborn had said was actually true, ran over to Nana.

"I-pin will help Mama in hanging up laundry!"

"Why thank you I-Pin-chan!"

Reborn let a small frown cross his face before it disappeared. He would like to say that he wasn't worried at all, but it was damn hard not to worry about his idiot student and idiotic guardians - especially if one mistake could end up screwing the future forever.

_**(Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam~EXTREME~Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam)**_

Tsuna didn't know what to expect when the time warp started, but he definitely did not expect to be suddenly pushed away from the rest of the group along with his guardians.

He did not expect to be falling out of the sky at great speed in a place that looked nothing like Japan, from what he could barely see as the world flashed by him,

He really did not expect to crash through a roof of some building, sending timber and frightened pigeons flying off in different directions.

But he did expect to be in a lot of pain. The teen felt like he had been run over by a truck which reversed and ran over him again when he made contact with the unforgiving wood, but thankfully he had managed to land on something soft, which sent up a puff of white powder.

Tsuna groaned as he twitched his fingers and toes, then later his arms and legs, to see if anything was broken in his fall, but it seemed his worries were unnecessary. It seemed that Reborn's intense tort - training had paid off and Tsuna sighed in relief because he only received some bruises and scratches and some small wounds from the future battle had reopened. As he lay there staring at the dust that was visible due to the stream of sunlight that came through the hole he had made, a sudden thought struck him.

"Where am I?"

He sat up and looked warily around only to see that he was surrounded by boxes and crates filled with bags of unknown material and smaller boxes. Rusty machinery could be seen on the far end of the building. Perhaps it was a storage building? Tsuna thanked whatever luck he had that he had landed somewhere devoid of people. It would have been pretty hard trying to explan what he was doing to crash through the roof like that. _"I don't know what happened… I just suddenly fell out of the sky…"_

Tsuna had to sigh at that. The only help that that statement would give him is a one-way trip to the mental asylum.

Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, he prepared to stand up and scout the area in search of his friends when he heard someone coughing a few feet away from him. He slowly turned and his eyes widened in fear as a pale, white figure sat up and looked straight at him -

"Oh Tsuna! Funny to see you here, do you know –"

"HIIIIIIIIEEE!"

And promptly fainted.

"-what…happened? Tsuna? Oi, are you okay? Did I say something wrong?"

Yamamoto stared at the motionless person-in question confusedly when he caught sight of himself in a nearby metal machinery, covered in flour.

"Haha, I look just like a ghost."

_**(Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam~EXTREME~Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam)**_

When Hibari blinked open his eyes, he was not amused to see a grimy, snotty face staring wide-eyed back at him. He glared at Lambo and growled to himself, wondering how he had gotten himself stuck with this herbivore - he glanced around - in the middle of some forest, with no clue as to where he was.

He broke of eye-contact with the herbivore and looked around disinterestedly, narrowing his eyes when he noticed that this wasn't Namimori forest at all. The trees were of a foreign type, huge, rough, and towering, unlike the beautiful Mamiji, Matsu…and Sakura trees found in the Forest. All he could see were tall pines and sycamores that seemed to go on for miles. The place also seemed to be darker and wilder.

Thus, Hibari deduced that he was either very far from Namimori, somewhere else in Japan, or he was not in Japan at all. He frowned even more. That was just not possible he thought as he jumped to his feet.

Lambo meanwhile, was still staring at Hibari, almost like he had finally found something new to play with, which probably wasn't that far off considering who it was. Lambo slowly opened his mouth as if he was about to spout some words of wisdom and Hibari glanced back at Lambo. Who knows, maybe he knew something. Then Hibari's theory was immediately crushed.

"Nyahahahaha, you can be Lambo-sama's new slave!" Lambo had finally gotten over his confusion and scrambled swiftly up on a small boulder to stand "grandly" top of it, putting both hands on his hips and puffing his chest out proudly.

Hibari's reaction to this was to turn around and walk away.

"Hey! Don't ignore me! If you turn around now, Lambo-sama will forgive you!" The only reply to this was the rustle of tree branches.

Hibari had now disappeared from view, but Lambo could hear the distant cries of Hibird chirping, "Hibari! Hibari!"

A few seconds more passed by as the child stood listening to the sounds of nature, but trembled when he heard something rustle in the bushes nearby and it wasn't Hibari.

"Gotta…be…calm…" he sniffled, but lost his nerve when a rustle sounded again from the treetops, "Wait for lamboooo!" He scrambled off the rock and sprinted towards where he had last seen Hibari, tripping over rocks and twigs. A bunny innocently poked its head out of the bushes wondering why this little human was screaming like some madman.

Hibari sighed, slowing down to look at his surroundings. Of course, he wouldn't slow down for a herbivore like Lambo; he was just looking for enemies that needed to bitten to death, and maybe find a clue as to where he was.

"Gupya!" Lambo cried out as his face met with the cold, unforgiving ground again."Gotta...be...calm..."

This was going to be a long day.

Unbeknownst to him, there were several pairs of eyes watching him from the trees above.

_**(Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam~EXTREME~Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam)**_

_SPLASH!_  
>Gokudera choked as he breathed in a lungful of seawater.<p>

Struggling not to drown, he rushed to the surface of the water, but only managed to gasp in a few, precious lungfuls of fresh air when a hand grabbed the hood of his jacket and yanked him back underneath the water. He yelped as his air supply was once again cut off.

Preparing to attack whatever enemy that was trying to suffocate him, he was about to elbow the person the the face when through his blurry vision, he saw a large boat glide by the area of where his head was moments earlier.

A few seconds passed which seemed like hours to his burning lungs as he waited for the stupid boat to hurry up and move already. Against his better judgment, Gokudera was debating on whether he should just take out his dynamite and blow the thing up when it finally moved out of the way enough for him to surface again safely. He made a frenzied swim to the surface and took in much needed while hacking and coughing out the seawater that had made his way into his lungs.

Squinting open one eye, he ignored the stinging pain that the salt gave him and glanced at his savior and near accidental killer who turned out to be none other than...Chrome?

Chrome blinked owlishly at Gokudera through her one eye and Gokudera stared back at her in turn before turning away with a slight blush.

"Thanks..." he reluctantly grumbled out . Chrome just continued staring at him unblinkingly and Gokudera sighed, not knowing what to say to the other Mist Guardian that he barely talked to.

The silver-haired teen glanced around at the large ships and boats that were docked in the pier they were in. Small cottages and buildings could be seen from above the pier along with green shrubbery and some trees. People in old-styled clothing befitting of a small town or village walked by minding their own business and some stalls were open in one of the main streets. "Where are we?"

Chrome gazed around too taking in the strange sights. "I don't know…"

"Tch. Nevermind."

Shaking his head to clear his mind he scrutinized his surroundings; he took note of the strangely old-fashioned looking buildings and people. Gokudera frowned thoughtfully.

"Weird…this place looks like it could be from the Renaissance, but newer somehow…"

By now a few curious onlookers had gathered to gawk at the strange kids in foreign clothing apparently taking a swim in their clothes. A few murmured comments reached his ears.

_'Who are they? I haven't seen them around here before.'_

_'Did they just fall out of the sky?'_

_'Maybe they 'ad something to do with that light earlier...'_

By now Gokudera had realized that they were speaking in Italian which was strange in itself. Wasn't he in Japan?

_'Nah, it must just be Talbot with another one of his insane inventions.'_

_'What a strange bunch of kids, what do ya reckon they're wearin'?'_

_'Look at that girl, wearing an eye patch holding a weapon like 'un of those wicked pirates that came o' few years ago.'_

_'Mommy, look at that octopus guy!'_

_'Shush honey, don't make eye-contact, they look like a rowdy lot, especially the one with the silver hair.'_

He bristled at the rude comments directed towards them and was about to shout back something obscene at them when he heard something piqued his interest. An old, withered man had shuffled into the main street, his cane clacking along the cobblestone road like a gavel pounding the pedestal. Gradually, the town quieted down and stared at him. He seemed to be the mayor of the town or some higher power. His equally old, and raspy voice sounded out.

_'Everyone…head back to your homes and lock up now. I've just received sum news that the demons might be back today."_

This one small comment from an aged old man, sent everyone into silence. Gokudera was perplexed. Surely, demons don't exist anymore; unless, they were talking about UMAs. If they were, he would be glad to help them.

Unknowing of the strange thoughts the young silver-teen behind him had, a young man with dark brown hair and weary eyes started ushering the townspeople back away from the dock.

_'Don't worry, the Vongola will handle it. Giotto hasn't let us down once ever since those dark years, even though bad things are happening right now...' _He paused for a moment and grimaced,_"But in the mean time we should get to safety. We don't want a repeat of what happened last time.'_

Gokudera and Chrome's eyes widened in shock when they heard the name.

The man watched the townspeople rush away when he abruptly turned around and gave Chrome and Gokudera a wary gaze.

_'You kids should get to safety too, but don't try anything funny.' _With that, he sprinted away, warning other townspeople of the looming danger. Within a few minutes, the whole town seemed barren and deserted unlike the cheery hustle and bustle of crowds that were there just moments before.

Gokudera and Chrome were still baffled from what they had just heard. What was going on? The Vongola? Giotto? But…the Vongola headquarters was in Italy, and the Vongola Primo had died 400 hundred some years ago, and part of his sould was currently residing in Tsuna's…sky…ring…

Gokudera just remembered something very important.

"JYUUDAIME! WHERE ARE YOU?"

An attempt to do a mad dog paddle to land and find his beloved boss was ruined when Chrome grabbed his hand. He turned around and glared at her.

"What is it? We're wasting time just staying here when jyuudaime could be in danger!"

Chrome raised her trident which she was surprisingly clutching onto the entire time and pointed a few feet away at a shallow area of the body of water they were in. Gokudera squinted against the sun's glare and he couldn't help but drop his jaw in shock at what he saw.

This whole time, Sasagawa Ryohei was right by them and they never noticed. What was more unbelievable was that he seemed to have been swimming – no –wiggling!in the water this whole time. Gokudera's eyes twitched as he blankly stared at the insane person who was doing some kind of twitchy…creepy…wriggly swim in the water. Gokudera took a deep breath, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"STUPID TURF-HEAD! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!"

"OH OCTOPUS HEAD! YOU SHOULD TRY SWIMMING IN THIS EXTREME SWIMMING POOL! THERE ARE EVEN FISHES IN IT TO THE EXTREME!"

"THIS IS NOT A POOL!"

Poor Chrome had no idea what to do as she watched the two have an extreme shouting match. It was not unusual that none of the three noticed a shadow lurking behind one of the buildings. The person signaled to a man a few buildings down.

'I found some rats out here.'

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><p><strong>AN:**I actually had more written, but if I had continued from where I left off…this would have been an extremely long chapter (like 6,000+) , and this seemed like a good place to cut it off so I did.

Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or alerted. Seriously, you guys know how to make my day awesome.


	3. Ch 3: The Storm Strikes

**A/N: **Hey guys! Sorry this chapter took a while to come out. I had a lot of things to do and family problems came up, but hopefully this chapter will make up for it though I'm not too happy with it. I seem to always be in a rush writing these chapters since I don't have a lot of free time.

If you guys are also wondering why I'm switching view points so much, it's cause I'm trying to get everyone together first, before things start flowing. I'm also working on my story formatting skills.

_**Disclaimer:**_No money is being made in the production of this story; it is merely a fan-made story. KHR belongs to Amano Akira-san.

_**Warning:**_Chapters 1 and 2. Avoid reading about Mukuro's illusion if any of you get sick easily :I

* * *

><p>'<em>Italian'<em>

"_Thoughts"_

* * *

><p><em>Recap of Last chapter<em>

Reborn, Haru, Basil, Kyoko, and I-Pin return by themselves without Tsuna and the others. Unsure of what happened, Reborn decides to take matters into his own hands and try to safely resolve the problem while trusting in the 10th generation to get out of this mess unharmed. Meanwhile, Tsuna and his guardians have arrived in the past and are clueless of the danger they are in.

* * *

><p>Gokudera sighed for the umpteenth time as he attempted to keep his temper in check. He had wasted a lot of precious time arguing with Turf-Head before he was finally satisfied with the statement, "I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE HELL WE ARE SO STOP ASKING!"<p>

The three soaking wet teens were now standing at the docks trying to get bearings of where they were, but so far nothing looked familiar and it wasn't as if they could ask anyone, since _every single person_ out on the cobble-stone streets earlier had disappeared, most likely into their homes or wherever they were. Gokudera frowned and mused to himself as he glared at the partially cloudy sky. It seemed as if a storm was coming.

"_I wonder what the demons are…they seem to be the root of whatever's going on in this town…and why did they mention the Primo? Could they mean Giotto di Bondone the famous pre-Renaissance painter?" _Gokudera ruffled his hair in frustration, _"No way, that guy lived before Primo's time and why would they be talking about a painter saving them? The only people that should know about the Vongola Primo are people related to the mafia…could this be a mafia town?"_

Ryohei's loud voice broke his train of thought.

"Oi, are we just going to stand here all day?"

Gokudera scowled and yelled back, "Of course not idiot! First we need to find jyuu –." Suddenly, he noticed something flash out of the corner of his eyes and his instincts kicked in.

"Get down!" Gokudera roughly shoved Ryohei and Chrome behind some crates before barreling in after them, ignoring the boxer's loud protests and Chrome's yell of surprise when both of them were immediately silenced by a loud bang. The storm guardian sat stiffly with has back to the crates as he strained his ears to hear the conversation on the other side. He glanced to the side to see a still smoking hole right where they had been standing earlier.

'_Idiot! How could you miss them at this range?'_

'_Ah, shut up. It's not like you never miss a shot.'_

A scuffle sounded.

'_Oi…take your jobs more seriously, you don't want to get on boss's bad side.'_

'_What'cha worrying about? All we have to do is make the Primo face the consequences of his actions.'_

'_Shut up, those kids are still around here somewhere, bicker like old ladies all you want later.'_

Gokudera mentally groaned in irritation. He was tired of having near-death moments and now there were these half-assed gun-toting men, who were probably new recruits, out to kill them.

"Storm guardian…"

The men's noisy voices came closer, and Gokudera glanced faced forward again to see Chrome's and Ryohei's look of determination and understanding of the situation at hand. The three nodded at each other just as a man turned the corner of the crate.

He raised his rifle and blinked confusedly.

There was no one there.

'_Ah? I could have sworn I saw them –."_

'_Agh!'_

He broke off at the sound of one of his comrade's yell and spun around just to see said man get punched in the face by a tan teen with a bandage on his nose. His eyes widened in shock when another one of his team met his match. Cursing, he ducked into the shadows and watched as one more silver-haired kid joined the fight and knocked out another man with a well-placed right hook that snapped the unfortunate man's head to the side.

The rifle-holder took advantage of the fact that the bandaged brat seemed to not have noticed him and aimed, when he disappeared right before his eyes.

'_What – an illusion?' _The man felt someone tap his shoulder and he turned to face the very same kid he just seen.

Right hook.

Left Slash.

Block.

Uppercut.

And the fight was done.

It took merely a few minutes for Ryohei to wrap everything up on the left side of the docks and he rewrapped the bandages around his fist as the last man slumped over.

Ryohei frowned at the men lying on the ground before him.

"That wasn't an extreme workout at all! You guys need to shape up!"

No one who was still awake was brave enough to answer the irate teen. Ryohei huffed and glanced around looking for the others. It was a good thing they had practiced together for this type of situation under Reborn's training before, otherwise, he would haven't any idea what to do.

Scratching his nose, Ryohei made off in one direction in search of his friends who he had split up with earlier, throwing caution to the wind.

"OI! OCTOPUS HEAD! EYE-PATCH! WHERE DID YOU GUYS GO?"

The men who were still conscious after the beating from the boxer sweatdropped as they stared at the disappearing cloud of dust from the ground.

_**Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam~EXTREME~Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam**_

Chrome blinked when she heard the Vongola Sun Guardian's shout from the street over. She pondered if she should call out when the voice faded away. Just as she was wondering how someone could have that much energy, slight movement out of the corner of her eye attracted her attention again.

She focused her attention back on the small circle of men that had escaped her illusion earlier. They in turned stared back at her with varying degrees of shock.

'_The hell? It's just a little girl.' _One of the men smirked. Another glanced warily at her.

'_You sure she's the one causing the illusion?' _

'_She looks too much like that pineapple-haired Mist guardian to be just a coincidence.'_

'_Eh? You're right…those other kids looked like a few of the guardians too, wonder if they're related.'_

A gray-haired man who seemed to be the oldest grunted at them.''_Nuff talkin. Even if they were related, boss said nothing about avoiding their relatives.'_

One of the men snickered_,' Like she can do anything worse than that pineapple-head.'_

'_Oi oi, watch what you're saying,"_one of them men admonished even though he too was snickering _,'He might be around here somewhere ready to send you to some second Hell.'_

By now Chrome was confused though outwardly she didn't show any change of expression. Pineapple-head Mist Guardian? The only mist guardians were her and Mukuro and since he was in Vendice Prison that left only her…the people she met so far have been saying very strange things, but she couldn't help, but feel slightly offended at the insult.

'_Oi little girl, we're just doing our jobs so don't think too badly of us if you get hurt.'_ Once the man finished speaking, they started moving in towards her.

Thanks to Mukuro, she could understand what they were saying even though it was in Italian and what he said made her even more confused, but she replied, "Please don't come any closer, I don't want to hurt you…"

'_Eh? What did you say?' _Chrome gave him no answer as she gripped her trident tightly and swung her trident at the nearest man before jumping backwards out of his reach. She winced as he cursed and tried to stop the blood that was seeping though his shirt. All at once the playful mood vanished and the swarmed in like a horde of angry bees.

'_The fuck – get that girl!'_

Chrome waited as they came close enough before twirling the trident to stop them from being able to come any closer, and thrust the back of it into one of the men's gut before switching her grip so that it cracked against someone's head. The two went down like sacks of potatoes, and Chrome turned so that she was facing the remaining five. By now they knew not to underestimate her and she could see that they were getting pissed.

The five of them rushed in at once and Chrome seemed to pause for a second before giant pillars of fire seemed to erupt from the ground and she backed off as the men screamed in terror, caught inside her illusion. She was so sure that she got all of them that she was understandably startled when someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her into a headlock.

"Ah!" She struggled as the person tightened his grip and starting choking her. It was the same gray-haired man from earlier, the one with the cold, unfeeling eyes. She could tell this man wasn't like the others and he had seen the cruelty of life.

'_Thank goodness I was not as stupid as my team to get caught up in petty arrogance.'_

Chrome elbowed the man in the ribs, but it was for naught as he did nothing other than grunt in pain. Desperately, she grabbed at his arm as she dropped the trident, trying to get oxygen back into her lungs. Chrome grimaced as the man's grip tightened. She was too careless. She should have watched her surroundings more carefully. Though she didn't want to rely on Mukuro, Chrome involuntarily called out _"Mukuro-sama…!"_as her consciousness began to fade.

The man snickered as she felt the girl's grip beginning to weaken.

"Kufufufu…who dares to hurt my dear Chrome…?"

'_What the-'_

Suddenly the man was pushed back when a whirlwind of mist spread around the girl. He coughed as he clambered back onto his feet, reaching for his gun when it was knocked out of his hand by a vine. He gasped. In place of the girl who was there before, a similar looking young man with blue hair stood in her place. He shivered as heterochromatic eyes met his own.

"_I'm sorry Mukuro-sama."_

Mukuro merely smiled as he shook his head softly. "_Kufufu…think nothing of it dear Chrome. Allow me to handle this."_

"_But…"_

"_Everything is fine."_Mukuro could almost feel Chrome's frown as she faded back to the corner of his consciousness. She had noticed something strange earlier when she had switched places with him...it was almost as if Mukuro was struggling to get somewhere.

Now wasn't the time to deal with the problem though.

Mukuro smirked at the pile of quivering flesh before him, and prepared to send him to his personal Hell, when the man uttered out, _'D-d-daemon S-spade!'_

The man gave a cry of terror when the teen's smirk seemed to twitch.

"Oya oya, don't compare me to that useless melon-head."

The man shook as the Mukuro's red eye seemed to glow and he raised his arms defensively when he was suddenly shrouded in darkness.

_Carefully he lowered his arms again when nothing seemed to happen, but immediately regretted doing so when his eyes met the scene before him. Cold, gray walls as dark as his eyes stood imposingly before him as shattered windows glared back at him, reminding him of the cruelty that occurred inside. Ivy and vines curled around the building, eroding the walls and icy, metal gates surrounded the property, slightly bent from the raging fire that had happened inside the building long ago. It was here that he made his bones - by killing his very own family. _

_The front door snapped open suddenly and fell of its hinges with an earth-shattering _boom _and the previously emotionless man trembled as shadowy figures stumbled out, their ashen-pale skin and gray limbs smoldering. Bottomless holes for eyes stared back at him and mouths opened in a horrible scream. The man too, opened his mouth in a silent scream as he stood, unable to back away from the terror of his past. _

_"You...!" He screamed as the figures rushed towards him, hands gnarled in anger and pain. _

Mukuro frowned distastefully at the man as he writhed on the ground screaming hysterically. This was why he hated the mafia, they all acted strong and arrogant, getting consumed by the power, but when push comes to shove, they couldn't face reality, therefore dragging innocent people into it.

Unlike his other naïve companions, he had no qualms about killing a man who deserved it, but he wasn't in the mood to clean off the blood, or dispose of the body at the moment.

Ignoring the screaming man behind him, he turned to look at the rest of the town, raising his eyebrows inquisitively.

"Oya…I never thought I would see this place ever again."

Mukuro leisurely stalked off towards the direction of a loud scuffle on the other side of the docks, grabbing his trident off the ground where Chrome had dropped it earlier, as he pondered his new problem.

It seemed that he couldn't return to his body back in Vendice for some reason.

_**Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam~EXTREME~Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam**_

Gokudera ducked behind one of the crates as another round of gunshots came his way. He winced when one came too close to him for his liking. Judging by the silence from the other side of the docks, he assumed the other guardians had finished up. That, or they were the ones who were finished off which was unlikely.

He had to wonder who the hell was knocking over trees in the forest on the other side of town though. He could also faintly hear some sort of scuffle near the center of town, but he assumed it was Ryohei.

Speaking of scuffle, by now, he had figured out that the 'demons' the townspeople were talking about were these atrocious men who were so far trashing the town. Through eavesdropping, he had found out that these people were from a mafia family, but from which he didn't hear. Apparently their mission was to "teach Primo a lesson", but no matter how he thought about it, it didn't make sense at all unless...they went back in time. However, now was not the time to worry about it because though these people seemed to be new recruits, anyone holding a gun or weapon was dangerous.

That left him, Ryohei, and Chrome, the three unfortunate souls who were unlucky enough to be the only three still out in the open. So far he had knocked out every one of the men that had chased after him, so now, he was currently facing against the last 5, and all of them had either a gun or a knife in their hands while he had nothing, but his hands and feet since his dynamites had gotten soaked during his swim and were not currently usable. Joy.

That was when he noticed the ring on his hand as he crept behind a decrepit looking building.

"U-uri!" The cat seemed to meow mischievously at him just as he heard footsteps coming closer. Great, now he had another thing to wonder about. Oh well, if he had Uri, then that meant he could use his flames!

The men paused when Gokudera suddenly revealed himself, nonchalantly walking out into the open with a smirk on his face.

One of the men sneered _,'Given up already brat?'_

'_Hehe, it's not like he's any match for us.'_

"Heh, say what you want, but I'll be getting the last laugh."

Gokudera raised his left hand and the men's eyes trailed to the ring that was on his hand.

'_Oi...i-isn't that the Vongola ring?'_

'_Crap…! I thought G was the current storm guardian!'_

Gokudera raised his eyebrow. That was just another piece of evidence for his theory that he really did not like so far. There was definitely something fishy going on and he was definitely going to find out what. But first, he had to deal with these weaklings.

"Uri! System C.A.I!" The men in front of Gokudera stepped back in apprehension.

…

The five of them and Gokudera stood stock-still when nothing happened. The silver-haired guardian gaped at his ring in shock. Why wasn't there any flames? The teen glanced up when he heard a chuckle. Then the five men began outright laughing.

'_You- You gotta be kidding me!'_

'_Hah, hah, I thought for sure I was a goner there bwahahaha!'_

Gokudera felt his face flame up in embarrassment as the five continued laughing. It wasn't as if it was his fault that his ring seemed to be out of action!

One of the men wiped his eye with his sleeve as he straightened up, still chuckling.

'_Nice try kid. Should've known that the ring was a fake.'_

"_Shit!"_Gokudera dodged just in time as the man came at him with a knife though he winced as the edge grazed the side of his face a little. Damn, what was going on! When he finds the Irie Shouichi of his time, even if he had nothing to do with his current predicament, he was so going to get it.

Gokudera scowled as he jumped behind a wooden beam, nearly tipping into the water. Damn it! He was ashamed at himself for being the victim in this stupid game of cat and mouse! If he couldn't even defeat these mere nameless mafiosos who weren't even up to par with Vongola, he had failed as jyuudaime's right hand man! As he crept around the corner he nearly had a heart attack. There was someone there.

"Crap!" The storm guardian crouched and prepared to do a sweep kick to knock the person into the water when the person trembled and cried out in a very _female _sounding voice.

'_P-please don't hurt me!'_

Gokudera peered more closely at the person and realized that instead of one of those pathetic mafiosos, the person who he had almost injured was actually a young lady in her mid-twenties, with long, flowing silver hair dressed in clothing appropriate for a woman back in the past. Dark blue eyes looked up from a pale, tear-stained face, and for a moment Gokudera saw not this stranger, but Lavina, his mother who had passed away several years ago.

He quickly turned away, not wanting to look at the woman who brought up such bittersweet memories for him.

The woman stared fearfully at this boy who had appeared out of nowhere, but when sensing his apparent discomfort and feeling no hostility from him anymore, she reached out and placed her hand on top of his own.

Startled Gokudera glanced up to face concerned eyes.

'_I-I'm sorry, did I – startle you? You seem troubled…'_

The silver-haired teen gaped in surprise. Here was this woman, who he didn't even know and whom he had almost injured, concerned with his wellbeing? She was too much like someone else he knew to be comfortable. Pulling his hand away, he switched to Italian.

'_It's nothing. What are you doing here? How come you didn't run away with the other townspeople?'_

The woman looked down sheepishly.

'_I was, but…I accidentally tripped and sprained my ankle earlier…'_

Gokudera glanced down at her ankle and sure enough, a dark, angry bruise glared back at him. Gokudera slumped and sighed again. He could hear the mafiosos still running around looking for him and he was sure that he wouldn't be able to stay in this same place much longer, but he wasn't just going to leave this woman here. He searched his mind for ideas, but couldn't think of anything.

He involuntarily reached his hand back, but pulled it back hastily when he felt an oily substance. Turning so that he was facing away from the woman, he inspected the dark substance leaking from a barrel.

…It was oil!

Gokudera carefully looked over the boxes he was currently hiding behind he spotted more of those same barrels lining the docks.

Gokudera was struck by an inconceivable plan and he let a slow smirk spread across his face as he checked one last thing for his plan to work and flicked his lighter.

A small bright flame popped into existence. Now fully grinning, Gokudera turned to face the bemused woman and her eyes widened in disbelief when he uttered a strange request.

'_Hey miss…would you mind getting into the water for a bit?'_

_**Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam~EXTREME~Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam**_

Ryohei gasped for breath as he placed his hands on his knees and bent over, trying to get some air back into his lungs. He had just run around the area where he had 'found' the others at least 10 times and he still didn't find anyone! Where the heck did they go?

Then he realized that he was looking on the _wrong side_ of the docks.

Oh…

The teen scratched his head in bemusement. How did he not notice that before? Ryohei looked around and spotted a few more men in black suits several yards in front of him. It seemed as if they had not noticed him yet because he was under the sun's glare.

Ryohei grinned and pumped up his fist. Yes! Now he could fight some new opponents. Just as he was about to yell out and charge at them, a pale hand reached out and covered his mouth before pulling him into an alley.

"Whfu ut ie? (Who is it?)"

Someone roughly whispered in his ears, "Be quiet turf-head!"

Recognizing the voice, he pulled the hand off his mouth and turned around.

"OH! IT'S –. "He was rudely interrupted by a smelly fish being shoved into his mouth.

Ryohei swiftly pulled the head out of his mouth and gagged as he watched it flop on the ground. Stupid Octopus-head! What did he think he was doing?

Taking advantage of the sudden silence, Gokudera casually peered around the corner of the dark alley and watched as the men in suits wandered a little bit farther from them and the woman. Good.

Then he turned to face a green Ryohei, and Gokudera coughed as he squashed down a feeling of pity.

"Listen, and listen carefully turf-head…I'm only going to say this once…"

_**Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam~EXTREME~Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam**_

The silver-haired woman winced as she ducked under the pier, watching as the men in suits ran by. She wondered what the silver-haired boy was doing, but she didn't have time to ask when he suddenly scurried off, after making sure she was safely hidden in the water. If there was one thing she knew, it was that teenagers were unpredictable.

Her arms were beginning to tire from holding onto the wooden beam and she accidentally bumped into one of the boats at the dock, making a hollow thud sound.

One of the men noticed and turned motioning to a few men that he had heard something. Her eyes widened when they suddenly started coming in her direction. Oh no, how could she let out such a careless error? She scrunched her eyes shut, as she could do nothing, but wait to be found when she heard a strange laughter…

"Kufufufu…I could have sworn I heard that noisy boxer and the little puppy just now."

There was a stunned silence before a rough voice rasped out, _'Who are you? And say it in a language we can all understand…'_

'_Hey, isn't that D-daemon Spade, the Vongola Mist guardian…?'_

The woman carefully maneuvered herself so that she could see what was happening on land while still being hidden in the shadows. She started at the sight of a teen with blue hair that was styled like a pineapple, but as she looked more carefully she could see that it wasn't Daemon Spade, but a boy who eerily looked like him.

…Were the rumors about him having a lover and a kid true?

She watched as his eyebrow twitched.

"That's the second time I heard someone call me that today…"

Mukuro had found out earlier that his flames didn't seem to be working so he opted to just send these men into lovely dreams when a voice called out.

"Oi! Pineapple-head! Move out of the way if you don't want to get burned!"

Mukuro scowled for this first time this day, letting his smirk slide off his face. What was this? Insult Rokudo Mukuro day or something? Even though the mist guardian wanted to skewer everyone there alive, he complied and jumped out of the way just in time as a barrel of dark liquid beside him was suddenly pushed over by the Sun Guardian.

Almost like a domino effect, other barrels of dark liquid were knocked over as Ryohei and Gokudera jumped to and fro around the suited men, causing utter confusion. By the time the chaos was over, all the barrels near the suited men were knocked over or were spilling out onto the cobble-stone street. Thanks to Mukuro, who had unknowingly made all of them men gather into a group, they were now stuck inside the circle and Gokudera stepped backwards with a slight grin as Ryohei shouted, "EXTREME FIREWORKS!" before backing away.

Extreme fireworks? Mukuro blinked as a sudden thought occurred to him and he glanced at Gokudera who seemed to be hiding something inside his pocket. The men seemed to have finally realized what was going on and began scrambling to escape, but tripped over one another.

Mukuro smirked and quickly faded into the shadows just as the storm guardian pulled out his lighter, lit it up, and bent down to light up the dark liquid before hurling himself into the water.

"_Ingenious thought, Vongola Storm Guardian…I couldn't have done better myself."_

The men screamed in terror and pain as the oil quickly ignited and sent up a pillar of flame around them, sending hot, burning ashes into the evening sky as the dark smoke swiftly spread. Gokudera and the woman winced as the blast of hot and burning air flared out.

Gokudera grinned to himself in pride as he waited a few minutes before pulling himself out of the water, watching the burned men writhe on the ground in pain, as he helped the woman up out of the water.

He had calculated the necessary amount of oil needed to incapacitate all of the mafiosos, but not enough to be fatal, unless one of them had been stupid enough to stand directly on the circle. In fact, he would have never done this in the first place if he wasn't sure that the stone inlaid street wouldn't catch on fire and spread. After all, he knew that jyuudaime would be sad if he had killed someone, and he didn't have the heart to kill anyone voluntarily anymore ever since he met Tsuna anyway.

He was suddenly jolted out of his thoughts when the silver-haired woman finished squeezing as much water out of her dress as possible and leveled a glare at him just as Ryohei came up to them looking a little confused.

'_W-what is it…?'_

The miss raised her eyebrows in surprise when the boy in front of her stared at her confusedly, but that only renewed the fire in her eyes.

'_You didn't have to injure those men to that extent! It-it doesn't make us any different from what they are if we do that…couldn't you have found some other way to stop them?'_

Gokudera raised his eyebrow. We? Oh hell, did the woman blame herself for what _he _had done? Sure he could deal with the consequences for whatever mischief he caused, but never when another person was feeling guilty for something _he did. _Just as he was about to retort, a voice beat him to it.

'_Excuse me young lady,'_The woman turned to meet the heterochromatic eyes of the blue-haired teen. She gasped in surprise, how did she not notice his eyes before? She was shook out of her thoughts when the teen continued, _'but if our dear loyal puppy _(What was that!)_ here hadn't done what he just did, those brutes could have killed you or someone else. In fact, your savior here could have been severely injured,'_Mukuro dodged the fist thrown his way_, 'if he had to waste time trying to think of another idea. Would you want that? He even took the time to carefully hide you under the pier so you wouldn't get hurt in the crossfire.'_

Ryohei and Gokudera stared at Mukuro in shock. Even though Ryohei had no clue what he was saying, even he could see that Mukuro was being unusually kind which was _very_ weird. In all the times he had seen the mist guardian he was either starting a fight, insulting someone, threatening someone, annoying someone, or creeping someone out. Was he tired or something?

The woman stared back at him in shock.

'_Y-you noticed me?'_

'_Kufufu, of course, no beautiful items can escape my eye.'_The young woman blushed and looked down at her hands which seemed very interesting at the moment.

"Damn…you sound like a freaking pervert."

"Oya, and this is coming from a religious stalker…"

"The hell – I don't religiously stalk anyone!"

"You seem so sure…"

"Can you guys just agree that both of you are offenders and stop this extreme argument?"

Mukuro and Goukdera simultaneously turned to face the boxer and the teem sweated as murderous auras leaked from the both of them.

"HELL NO!"

'_U-um…'_Thankfully Ryohei was saved from the wrath of two irate guardians when the lady who sort of looked like Gokudera meekly interrupted their argument. '_T-thank you for saving me then…'_

Gokudera smirked, _'Heh, it was nothing miss.'_He ignored the annoying 'kufufufu' behind his back.

'…_Celia.'_

Gokudera blinked, _'What?'_The lady softly smiled and reached out her hand before saying more confidently,

'_My name is Celia.'_

Ryohei and Mukuro stared at the two, but Gokudera merely ignored them and reached out his own hand to shake hers,_'Gokudera Hayato.'_

Just as the day's events seemed to roll slowly to a stop, fate just had to be cruel and make the guardians' day even worse.

'_Stop right there, you have done enough damage to this town.'_

The four of them turned and each of them stared in shock at the person, who let a sad smile spread across his youthful face as he saw the guardians up close.

'…_It is unfortunate that I must apprehend troublemakers of such a young age.'_

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><p><strong>AN: **Haha, yeah, the stalker and pervert comment were just to lighten up the mood though I have to say, they did have some sort of a truth to them…*ducks flying objects from Gokudera's and Mukuro's fans*

*cough* Anyway, Before any of you freak out, no I don't plan on having Celia, my OC, play a major part in the story at all unless you guys really want me to. She's just there, as support and to make the story more interesting. I hope you guys didn't mind.

And yeah, I noticed that I've been kind of focusing on the mist, sun, and storm guardians more than Tsuna and Giotto though they are supposed to be the main characters in this story. Don't worry though, they'll get their moment to shine in due time, after I get everyone together. It's just so fun to write Gokudera haha. However, Tsuna and Giotto are still my top favorite characters :). I have to admit though, I had a field time with Mukuro. HIs personality is so unpredictable that I can almost write anything with him and it just clicks.

**Please read and Review and Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, or favorited this story, and if I didn't manage to answer your questions, please message me because I might have missed someone.**


	4. Ch 4: Still Heart

**A/N: **Wow, I'm quite surprised at the guesses of whom the person was last chapter. I thought I made it pretty obvious, but I guess not. And yeah, I have not yet disappeared of the face of the earth, but I hope this chapter was worth the wait, it is more than 5,000 words. For those of you who wanted longer chapters, well here you go!

_Also, I would like you guys to know that yes, I am well aware of the fact that the Sicilian Mafia started some time in the mid-1800's in Sicily and not during the Renaissance. However, this is fanfiction and if that still bothers any of you, this can also be considered as AU since it technically is. And as cool as the Victorian Period was, I prefer writing during the Renaissance cause it interests me more. I wonder though, does the timeline really bother any of you?_

_**Warnings:**_Chapters 1 and 2. This is rated T for a reason so please don't complain to me about offensive language or something like that because I will just say look at the warnings...unless I managed to miss something, then I will apologize right here and now.

_**Disclaimer:**_Nope, don't own.

**IMPORTANT QUESTION AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER.**

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><p><em>'Italian'<em>

_"Thoughts"_

"Japanese"

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><p><em>Recap of Last Chapter:<em>

Gokudera, Ryohei, Chrome, and Mukuro are attacked by the people the townspeople called demons, who turned out to be mafiosos from an enemy family. Gokudera comes to the conclusion that they are in the past and he isn't happy about however, there is no time to worry as they are fighting for their lives. After Ryohei and Chrome/Mukuro finish up their fights, Gokudera is the last one fighting at the docks though there seems to be other fights elsewhere. He meets a woman named Celia and defeats the men after him with the help of Ryohei while keeping her safe. Just as everything seems to turn out for the better, a mysterious person shows up.

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><p>"Y-y-you're…!" Gokudera shakily pointed his finger at the young man standing before them. A man who was none other than Asari Ugetsu, the First Generation Rain Guardian; he was in front of them. No, he wasn't transparent. Gokudera pinched himself just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Ouch, okay, he definitely felt the pain. Then that meant…oh hell no.<p>

His theory just became a fact.

_"…if I ever see that glasses-wearing idiot ever again..."_He chuckled darkly.

Asari blinked in surprise at the looks he received from the three guardians.

Ever since he had officially become the Rain Guardian, he had met many people who feared him, adored him, respected him, were awed by him, or were wary of him, but never before had he met anyone who had such strange looks on their faces. The three oddly-dressed young teens in front of him looked like they had seen….well, for a lack of a better word, a ghost. He thought that the situation couldn't be stranger than it already was, but then his mind registered the words that he heard.

"…you speak the language of my homeland?"

The three guardians were too dumbstruck by the sheer impossibility of the situation to answer him and Gokudera didn't even realize that he had accidentally reverted back to Japanese.

Deciding to test if the boy actually did speak Japanese, Asari ventured to get a reply out of him,  
>"Come now, I'm not that scary am I? I merely wish to inquire the reason for your purpose here. After all, there have been some...unusual...circumstances in past few months."<p>

Asari kept a pleasant smile on his face, but inwardly he was scrutinizing each teen in front of him. From what he had seen on his perch in a tree nearby, these teens were not to be underestimated, especially when he had seen them take down men at least twice their size without much of a problem. He kept his hands near the swords at his waist in case he had to use them.

Mukuro, sensing that he was probably the only one able to form a coherent phrase at the moment attempted to speak, but someone else beat him to it.

"OH! YOU'RE THE RAIN GUARDIAN! HAVE YOU COME TO GIVE US ANOTHER TRIAL?" Ryohei mocked-punched the empty air in front of him with an excited glint in his eyes and all the people present winced in pain as the boxer's booming voice traversed across the barren town.

Asari frowned, "Pardon?"

Ryohei blinked and seemed put off for a moment, "Then, are you here to make sure we're doing our jobs as guar-." Gokudera panicked and slapped his hand over Ryohei's mouth before he could say anything more damaging. Gokudera hissed at him to shut up and by now Asari, who was always calm in most situations, was immensely confused at the nonsense spouting out of the boxer's mouth and he had no idea what to say.

Mukuro smirked, "My, aren't you all making a big mess of the situation."

Gokudera turned and glared at the indigo-haired teen, "Like you're helping the situation at all! You're just standing there like some wooden post!"

"Oya, I'm offended you think of me in such away," though he still kept that smirk on his face, showing that he was not offended in the slightest.

Gokudera felt a strong urge to blow up the pineapple head next to him, but refrained from doing so. He muttered low under his breath as he released his hold on Ryohei, "Look…as much as I want to blow you up right now," Mukuro snorted, "we need to get -."

Someone cleared their throat and all three teens turned to face Celia, who they had accidentally forgotten during their shock. _'Asari, these boys mean no harm. I can vouch for them and they actually protected the town.'_She looked at the rubble lying around with a raised eyebrow. _'…More or less.'_

Gokudera stared at the woman in mild surprise, _'Celia, you know him?'_

She smiled sheepishly as she shifted her foot a little so that it was in a more comfortable position, but as if a switch was suddenly flipped, she suddenly became serious as she debated on whether, or not to tell them something. Gokudera tensed in anticipation.

'_Yes, I do, I'm one of the townspeople who help watch this town for Vongola.'_

Gokudera's heart dropped to his stomach in horror. To meet one of Vongola's associates _and _the 1st generation rain guardian…they seriously had the worst luck ever!

Asari had not seen the young woman clearly from where he was watching the fight earlier, but now that he was standing nearer and the teens had moved aside he realized that he knew who she was. His face broke out into a wide grin.

_'Ah! Celia-san! I did not recognize you at first since you were blocked from my view.'_Asari dimmed his smile a bit. _'And not to worry, I merely wish to bring these three back to the mansion to question them. After all, they did manage to nearly destroy the docks and Giotto will surely want to know what happened…'_Then he noticed that she was standing a little lopsidedly, _'You are hurt?'_

_'Oh…just a slight sprain. You needn't worry.'_

Gokudera widened his eyes as he let Asari's and Celia's conversation fade into the background as he contemplated what Asari had just said. Was he talking about the headquarters?...Oh right…the Vongola headquarters was called the Vongola mansion back before different branches opened up across the world…wait…shit! Never mind that! Either way they couldn't be taken to the Vongola mansion!

"Ah, I should bring you guys back now…please come along. I assure you, that I will not harm you unless you give me reason to." For a moment, a stern look flashed across his face before his usual carefree smile replaced it. Okay that was it, they had to do something, and they had to do something now.

Making a split-second decision, he grabbed a surprised Mukuro and Ryohei by the arms, "RUN!" and ran like the dogs of hell were after them. Asari stiffened in shock as the three suddenly ran around him, but immediately chased after them. The he remembered something. _"Celia-san! Stay there! A medic will come by later!'_She slowly nodded as she stared after the disappearing figures with wide eyes and wondered what just happened.

"Halt!"

Gokudera let out a stream of profanity as he heard rapid footsteps behind him and knocked over a few barrels and crates along his way to hinder the First generation guardian.

"EXTREME!" Ryohei shouted at the top of his lungs as he too knocked over crates and boxes, thinking this was a test. Shockingly, or not so shockingly, he even threw back a potted plant that crashed against a wooden door frame due to his bad aim. Gokudera winced when he heard muffled shouts come through the doorway before it abruptly cut off.

He cursed as the three turned around the corner and Ryohei nearly tripped over a stray cat.

"Damn it! I still need to find juudaime!"

"Kufufu…I would like to help, but I have no desire to participate in this annoying game of cat and mouse," Mukuro chuckled as he disappeared in a cloud of mist (1), "Good luck, you'll need it."

Ryohei stared dumbstruck at the place where Mukuro was just a few seconds ago and Gokudera gritted his teeth as he heard a screech of metal behind him, signifying that the 1st generation rain guardian had finally decided to become serious.

_DAMN THAT KUFUFU-ING PINEAPPLE HEAD BASTARD!_

_**Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam~EXTREME~Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam**_

_Forest_

Hibari grunted and staggered back a few steps before reluctantly falling to one knee, growling as he spotted his tonfas several feet away from him. He couldn't believe that he had lost to that..._carnivore._

_During the fight at the docks: _

_Dead leaves crunched under his feet as Hibari stepped one foot after another towards where he thought the forest ended. Lambo, who was sniffling from hunger and the bruises he got from when he tripped several times over rocks, twigs, and tree roots, trailed behind three feet away. He had found out early on that the demon-in-disguise in front of him was not a person to be messed with, especially when he glared at you with a bloodthirsty glint in his eyes and said, "Leave me alone, or I'll bite you to death."_

_The two continued on, one with large strides, and the other with short, but fast steps. The sun, which was high up in the sky when they started out was now just a little above the horizon, tinting the sky with soft orange and yellow hues. The warm, gentle breeze was slowly turning into cold, bitter bites, and several suspicious nocturnal sounds were heard in nearby shrubs and bushes._

_Lambo didn't know if his companion, or Reborn was scarier, but he knew that he did not want to get left behind in this gloomy forest, no matter how much his feet ached. He knew that the forests were full of monsters waiting to eat him! Hibari, on the other hand, wanted to get out of the forest as soon as possible because it would be a pain to try to walk around after dark with no light. Despite what some crazy people thought, he wasn't some vampire who had fangs, drank people's blood, ran at the speed of light, had inhuman strength, and could see in the dark. The only reason he could bite people to death in the dark was because they were all unnecessarily loud and crowded around, which just made it easier to get to them. _

_Hibari glanced up when Hibird fluttered into view from above. He had been flying around stretching his wings and returned because it was getting darker. "Hibari! Hibari!"Hibird fluttered to a stop on Hibari's shoulder before hopping up and down. "Hibari! Up! Up!" Hibari raised a thin eyebrow just as a figure shrouded in black dropped down from the shadowy branches. A feral smirk spread across Hibari's face._

_"I know."_

_Yawning, Lambo involuntarily looked up when he saw a flash of silver and his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when he saw a 'flying monster' with its 'shining claws' heading straight towards Hibari's head._

_"AHH! F-flying monster is going to eat d-demon!" Lambo burst into tears, not knowing whether to run away or help the 'scary demon'._

_The cloaked figure smirked in satisfaction when he saw that Hibari still hadn't turned around and plunged the knife downwards, just as Hibari was starting to turn. Too slow._

_Lambo covered his eyes and bawled, waiting for inevitable the sound of metal cutting into flesh-_

_THUD._

…_which wasn't that._

_Cautiously, Lambo peeked through his tiny hands and was greeted to the sight of the cloaked figure clutching his head in pain on the forest floor as Hibari stood over him with his tonfas gleaming against his hands. Lambo screamed in fear when Hibari suddenly sprinted towards him and ducked at the last moment, feeling the displaced air as the tonfa swung over his head. Another thud._

_Lambo, now scared out of his mind looked back to see another cloaked figure lying supine on the dusty ground. A rustle of cloth and suddenly they were surrounded on all sides. One of the cloaked persons stepped forward._

_'Brat. Surrender or die by our hands.' The man spat out. Hibari narrowed his eyes. He may have not understood what was said, but he did not like the tone or aura the other was giving off._

_"I'll bite you to death." He took a step forward and in response to his action, the surrounding men rushed forward in offense. Lambo whimpered in fear and grabbed onto Hibari's leg. Demon or no demon, he wasn't going to die by 'flying monsters'._

_The man who had spoken flexed his hand and a dagger slipped into it. He growled and swung it in an arc and Hibari ducked under it before ramming the end of his tonfa into the man's gut. He grunted in pain and Hibari wasted no time to swing his other tonfa at the man's jaw. A satisfying crunch sounded and he went down like a sack of potatoes._

_The others weren't deterred and as one they struck._

_THUD. SMACK. CRUNCH. CRACK. SMASH. THUD._

_A few minutes later the only people left unscathed were Hibari and a petrified Lambo who still clung to Hibari's leg even though he had fainted some time during the fight._

_Hibari suddenly turned and narrowed his eyes at the shadows._

_"Show yourself." There was a slight rustle of branches and a tall, imposing blond man with cold silvery-blue eyes stepped out into the fading light._

_"How interesting. You were able to notice my presence and defeat my subordinates." Alaude spoke in fluent Japanese, remebering that the teen in front of him had spoken in Japanese earlier. Hibari twitched in annoyance. He recognized the man in front of him as the one who refused to fight him during the Inheritance trials._

_"They were weak." Hibari glared. "And you had them attempt to kill me."_

_Alaude's expression was unreadable. "I ordered them to apprehend you. They chose to misinterpret my orders and shall be dealt with later."_

_Hibari shifted his stance into an attacking postion. "Fight me."_

_Alaude didn't move as he observed the teen before him. Yes, he had skills, he won't deny that. He also had to admit that he was slightly impressed with the power and potential in one so young, though he would never say it out loud. And he was able to protect his comrade though possibly it was involuntariy from what he had seen…but he was severely lacking in discipline and his bloodlust was so uncontrolled that it would hinder him and endanger other people - including himself. It was a dangerous weakness._

_"I have no interest in fighting a child."_

_That struck a nerve._

_"I'll bite you to death." Hibari snarled._

FLASHBACK END

"Have you learned your lesson?"

Leather shoes stepped into his view as Hibari struggled to keep consciousness despite his injuries. He mustered up his last strength to coldly glare up at Alaude whose expression was still unreadable. Unlike Hibari, he had no wounds or a speck of dust on his dark brown coat.

"Weaklings should not attempt to fight the strong."

As Hibari slumped forward and sunk into the depth of unconsciousness, Alaude folded away his handcuffs and bent down to pull the boy onto his back. He glanced at the cow child who was standing a few feet away from him shaking fearfully and deadpanned, "Follow me." Lambo, not wanting to anger the scary blond man rapidly nodded and ran to catch up with him as he strode away.

Alaude mentally scowled as he headed towards the mansion. He did not like hurting children whenever he could avoid it, but the dark-haired teen had literally given him no choice. And the fact that Hibari reminded him of himself when he was younger did not help one bit.

_**Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam~EXTREME~Bunny~Clam~Bunny~Clam**_

_Center of Town - Town Square_

Tsuna didn't know what was really happening at the moment, but whatever it was, it wasn't good. He and Yamamoto had agreed to leave the storage building to search for the others, but when they stepped out of the building, they were assaulted by silence. Dead silence. Carts were overturned, mangled pieces of wood were scattered across the road, and a fire could be seen in the docks. That put them on edge, along with the fact that there were no people in sight. They had wandered around cautiously for awhile when two tall men in black suits had appeared out of nowhere, took one look at them, and started shooting.

One thing had led to another and the end was result was this wild chase across town and him and Yamamoto being split up.

Tsuna yelped as someone grabbed his collar and yanked him into a dark alleyway. He grunted as he was pulled against someone's chest.

"HEL- mmf!" The person covered his mouth and Tsuna flailed his arms, all of Reborn's training flying out the window, as he tried to attack his assailant. A quiet 'ite!' from the person as he managed to jab the person in the face with his elbow had him pause.

"Yamfamtho (Yamamoto)?"

"Shh." Footsteps stopped just outside the entrance of the alley just as Yamamoto pulled Tsuna behind some trash. Two men in dark suits stopped and looked around.

_'I'm sure I just saw that brown-haired kid around here somewhere.'_The one who had spoken had dark blond hair and a thick German accent underlying his Italian. He turned to his companion. _'You lost the other one didn't you?'_

His brown-haired comrade merely grunted in reply, his dark-green eyes scanning the small houses surrounding them.

_'Whatever, at least we did not fail in our mission like those idiotic underlings.'_They both looked over towards the plume of smoke in the distance. _'I don't know why boss decided to send those cocky newcomers who can't even tell a handgun from a rifle. Anyway, let's hurry; undoubtedly the Vongola have arrived by now. What was our objectives again?'_

The blond man muttered under his breath as he reloaded his gun with a menacing click and replied,_'Objective one: frighten the townspeople. Check. Objective two: kill two high-ranking townspeople. One more person.'_Tsuna's and Yamamoto's eyes widened when they heard this. Reborn had made all learn some basic Italian and if they heard correctly, these men were cold-blooded killers.

Something brushed by his feet and in surprise, Tsuna accidentally leaned too far to the right and bumped into something and it fell to the the ground with a clang that sounded like a gunshot in the silence. There was a screech and the two men immediately snapped their heads toward the alley. Tsuna and Yamamoto paled.

_'I believe we caught our rats.'_The man with the German accent deadpanned as he clicked the safety off his gun and stepped into the alley. Yamamoto and Tsuna held their breaths as he stepped closer; Seeing that there was no way out of this without a fight, Yamamoto inched his hands towards his Shingure Kintoki while Tsuna stuck his hands in his pocket to retrieve his gloves and pills. That's when Tsuna intuition went haywire. He pulled out his gloves, but no pills. He silently, but frantically searched his other pocket, but the only thing he found was a bunch of lint.

_"I must have dropped it somewhere back in the warehouse...HIEE why do I have to have bad luck now!"_

Yamamoto glanced to the side and his eyes widened in shock when he realized what was wrong.

_"This isn't good..." _Yamamoto smiled uneasily and was about to attack when something brushed against his leg, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. The blond man shot at the thing and growled when he missed and the thing let out a yowl as it nimbly dodged.

_'Ah, it's just a stupid cat...but I'm going to check over there just to make sure.'_The man was about to move forward when his brunet companion hissed out a reply, _'Forget it, we need to leave now. We don't have time to waste - I think I hear someone coming. Undoubtedly the Vongola are on the move.'_

The blond turned back to the trash and back at the entrance to the alley, debating if he should listen, or not before sighing and backing out.

_'Fine.'_He swore under his breath before he and his companion strode away. Tsuna and Yamamoto didn't realize they were holding their breaths until they started running out of air. They slowly exhaled and waited a few more minutes just to make sure they were really gone before slumping against the wall in relief.

"Haha! This mafia game sure gets serious sometimes." Yamamoto grinned at Tsuna as he released his tight grip on his sword. He looked over and saw an orange tabby staring at them warily. "It's only thanks to this cute neko that we were saved." He held out his hand in a welcoming gesture to the cat and laughed when it slowly brushed against it before purring and flicking its tail in happiness. Tsuna merely stared back at him. He couldn't believe that after all this time Yamamoto still thought it was a game...was he really being serious?

"U-um Yamamoto," Tsuna hesitated when Yamamoto glanced questioningly at him and couldn't help, but chicken out. He didn't want to ruin his friend's carefree image even though he knew he would have to say something sooner or later, but instead he finished off his sentence differently, "I think we should-"

_'LET GO!'_They both jerked in surprise at the yell and the tabby hissed before scampering away. They both stood up, but paused. Should they really _go _to the people who are trying to kill them?

_'No can do kid, you're the son of that rich merchant and since we don't have time,'_A click was heard as the chamber of a gun clicked into place,'_you __will just have to be our second target for the day because boss won't be happy if we fail.'_

_'P-please let him go. '_A smack sounded and the voice cut off into a sob.

_'Shut it brat, unless you want to die with your friend here. You'll just be our messenger. Remember this and remember this well, tell the Vongola Primo: Suffer for the consequences of your actions.'_

They second part of what the man had said confused them, but there wasn't time to think about that now. They weren't going to let someone, especially kids, get hurt if they could do something about it. Following the yelling and screaming, they eventually made it back to the town square, where a once-beautiful fountain, now destroyed, resided in the center of the square. Water sprayed out diagonally from the broken pipe and the square was littered with debris and filthy water.

And beside the fountain was where the two men were holding onto two struggling kids, a boy and a girl, both no older than 12. The girl was sobbing, tear stains tracing dirty lines down her cheeks, as the brown-haired man held her in a choke-hold while the blond had his gun pressed against the the boy's head. Even though though the boy was trying to act brave for his friend, his pale face and trembling form revealed how terrified he was.

Yamamoto and Tsuna paused behind a tree to observe the situation before doing anything.

The boy smiled shakily back at the girl, _'I-I'm sorry Lena, I should have listened to you when you said not to run...tell Dad I love him and not to wait for Mom anymore...'_

The redhead snapped at the blond,_'Hurry up already!'_

He grunted, _'Yeah, yeah...nothing personal kid, but it's the end of the line for you.'_

Yamamoto analyzed the scene and made a split-second decision, "Stay here, Tsuna."

"Yamamoto!" Tsuna yelled in shock as Yamamoto pulled his bamboo sword out and sprinted towards the fountain.

The sound made everyone by the fountain look towards their direction and served as a good distraction. Yamamoto used the distraction to his advantage and slammed the hilt of his now-changed sword into the brunet's solar plexus, just as the man turned, and pivoted before adjusting his grip to slash the back of his sword towards the blond who dodged at the last minute. The brunet grunted in pain and released his hold on Lena who ran towards her friend; the boy pulled her behind him and looked warily at Yamamoto.

"Haha, don't worry, I'm on your side." If anything, his foreign language just made him more wary of him, but his eyes widened when he saw the blond cock his gun and aim it towards Yamamoto's head_._

_'Look out!'_

"Woah!" Yamamoto twisted his arm just in time to raise his sword and deflect the the bullet when someone kicked him in the side. The force sent him skidding across the road and he looked up in time just to see the brunet pull out his gun and glare at him. Yamamoto gulped. To pack a kick that strong after being weakened by a strong blow to a weak point in the body...these men were stronger than they looked and he had found out earlier that he couldn't use his flames.

Not good.

Tsuna fidgeted behind the large oak as he watched the battle. It was hard to say who was winning since both sides were almost on par with each other. He glanced around nervously and was surprised to see some townspeople peeking out of their houses, too frightened to do anything. Comparing himself to them, he realized he was doing exactly the same thing.

_"But, I can't fight without my gloves..."_Tsuna clenched his shaky hands in frustration, _"Ah, but I can't just leave Yamamoto to fight by himself! What would Reborn say? 'A maifa boss shouldn't let his subordinates fight a losing battle?'...yeah, that sounds about right, but I don't want to be a mafia boss and Yamamoto's not losing! But other than that what should I do? What should I do...?"_

A sudden cry of pain broke Tsuna out of his internal battle and he looked back up at the battle in shock. The blond was down and unconscious, but it seemed that the brunet had used his comrade's defeat to his advantage and used Yamamoto's momentary lapse in attention to shoot him. Yamamoto had dodged in time to avoid any hits to vital areas, but the bullet had landed a hit on his right arm.

A second shot had Yamamoto's sword spinning through the air. The brunet, who too had quite a few scratches and bruises, smirked in victory as he raised his gun, which was was now infused with rain flames, one last time for the final shot. Yamamoto breathed deeply as he glared back at the man, the many scratches on him from the bullets giving reason as to why he was so tired and slow. He clenched his teeth in pain as he attempted to move his right arm. The children stood off to the side too shocked and frightened to move.

_"Yamamoto!"_Any other doubts Tsuna had about running into battle without his gloves vanished when he saw his friend injured and losing. Tsuna dashed out and probably made the stupidest move of his life: he tackled an armed gunmen who was twice his size.

The brunet grunted and tried to throw Tsuna off; he manged to punch Tsuna in the face, but he didn't let go until the man tried to shoot him. He ignored the pain and dodged as the bullet flew by his head and ducked when the man tried to round-house kick him. For once, Tsuna was glad he had a spartan tutor who tried to instill fast reflexes and self-defense into him by means of bombs, bullets, posion cooking, and other means of "tutoring" (2). Tsuna fought back for several more minutes, but he could feel himself tiring as the rain flames started to take effect. That and it was impossible to completely dodge all the bullets at such a close range.

Attempting a move that Lal had once taught and used on him during his time training in the future, Tsuna feinted a right hook, and just as the man predictably used his arms to block the punch, Tsuna used his momentum to swing his left leg around in an outside kick to the man's head. The kick connected and the two stared at each other in shock before the man's eyes rolled up to the back of his head and he collapsed into a graceless heap onto the ground. Tsuna gaped in surprise.

"Did I...really do that?" Tsuna asked no one in particular in a shocked and half-hysterical tone. He couldn't believe it. He shook his head - there were other things to worry about. He turned to Yamamoto who looked ready to pass out as he knelt on one knee.

"Yamamoto! Are you okay?" Yamamoto shakily grinned back at him and gave him a thumbs up.

"Yep, just a bit tired, but nothing milk and a few days of rest won't fix." Tsuna smiled back at him in relief before turning back to the children. They looked slightly more trustful now seeing that the two beat up the men who were trying to kill them. Problem was Tsuna did not know Italian. He attempted to mix what little Italian Reborn had pounded into his brain with hand motions.

_'I...come...in peace? You safe?'_Tsuna had a feeling he sounded like an idiot, but it seemed the kids understood when they nodded slowly and gave a small smile.

The boy stepped forward and nodded gratefully, _'Thank you and your friend for helping us.'_

Tsuna assumed he was thanking them and smiled back when Yamamoto suddenly shouted, "TSUNA!"

Tsuna started and turned to where Yamamoto was staring wide-eyed; he gasped in shock when he turned and saw the blond man glaring at them and raising his storm-flame infused gun towards the boy. He looked half-mad with his dirtied appearance and cold eyes. Yamamoto tried to stand up, but fatigue immediately washed over him; the effects of the rain flame still hadn't worn off yet, and his sword wasn't within arm's reach.

The gunman snarled and spat out, _'Even if it kills me I will finish my mission!'_

The man was shooting at point-blank range, less than two feet away from the boy. There was no way he could miss. There was no time to think, decide, plan, and he didn't have his pills to go into HDW mode. Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

The pistol slowly raised. A click sounded as the chamber rolled and the bullet clicked into place. Almost mockingly, the finger pulled on the trigger.

The adrenaline pumped through his veins as he pulled a stunt that Yamamoto would remember for years to come.

He jumped in front of the boy and spread out his arms as he stared at the barrel of the gun face-to-face. The boy and girl both screamed.

Yamamoto gasped in shock and horror, his hands inches away from his sword,_"__**TSUNA!**__"_

Tsuna clenched his eyes shut_,"I'm sorry everyone."_

_**'BANG**'_

* * *

><p>(1): Mukuro had illusionary powers before he had the mist flame so he can still used his illusions, unlike the others' where some of their abilities come from their flames.<p>

(2): I really think that Tsuna can fight without his gloves because he has Reborn as his tutor. I doubt Reborn would only make Tsuna learn only to fight with his gloves, plus while Tsuna may have been pretty useless, no offense to him, before he met Reborn, I'm also going to use this story as an opportunity to show how much Tsuna and his guardians have grown since the beginning of the anime and manga.

**A/N:**I bet you guys are screaming at me right now haha...I remembered reading a review of someone saying that the only ones that seemed safe so far was Tsuna and Yamamoto so I thought _'Hm...I did make the gunmen chasing Gokudera and the others pretty stupid so why not make the ones chasing after Tsuna and Yamamoto more dangerous and smarter? '_hence, this chapter + review + sadistic mind = a new branch for the plot tree.

Also, this story will most likely get darker later on. Not death note-dark, but just more serious. Don't worry about me completely turning this story into a large heap of angst though. There will still be humor and I will be adding fluff here and there. Just a heads up because I was never one for writing crack-fics, and my strong points were always in darker/more realistic fics. I mean...I'm writing about the mafia. Amano-san may have been pretty carefree with the mafia in her manga, but in real life the mafia is different so I will combine both versions.

Please tell me what you think of this chapter and the story in general so that I may improve it. Reviews = happy writer + more improvement on story. Even a "please update" will make me happy.

**IMPORTANT QUESTION: Elena...to die...or not to die...that is the question...  
><strong>The poll is on my profile. I will not tell anyone her fate until after that point in the story arrives.

Until we meet again!^^ (which will hopefully not be something like a year later)


	5. Ch 5: Masks

**A/N:** What's up my dear readers? I am back. And the plot line is planned out, but I will be improvising still since I keep getting ideas along the way...

Anything that happens in this chapter is purely friendship and family, but if you take it down a different road, that's your choice.

Remember, I need OCs to make enemies and to keep the plot going. If it bothers you I'll try to fix it, but I can't do much or else my whole plot will get screwed up.

**Disclaimer: **I own this in my dreams.

**Warnings: **Chapter 1 and 2. There are no specific warnings this chapter besides some emotional themes and blood and gore I guess. But this is rated T for a reason guys...

* * *

><p><strong><em>Recap of Last Chapter<em>**

The mystery person that confronts Ryohei, Gokudera, and Mukuro is none other than Asari. It is revealed that they are indeed stuck in the past, and in a panic, Gokudera grabs the other two and runs. In the forest, the people watching Hibari and Lambo turn out to be the subordinates of Alaude, but Hibari easily defeats them, but fails to defeat Alaude. Meanwhile, in the Town Square, Yamamoto and Tsuna, after leaving the storage building, are being chased by two stronger and knowing mafiosos. Just as they gave them the slip, Tsuna and Yamamto can't help, but run back to their enemies to rescue two children who are being threatened. But it is unsure whether there will be a happy ending as Tsuna stands in the way of a bullet to protect the boy while the others could only watch in horror.

* * *

><p>"Japanese"<p>

_'Italian'_

* * *

><p>Smoke drifted lazily out of the muzzle of the handgun as a bullet clattered deafeningly to the ground. A mouth parted to let out a choked gurgle before slumping forward to the street with a thud. Screams of horror tore down the street just as the bullet had torn through skin, skull, and then brain before going out the other end. Blood gradually dyed the cobblestone red as the onlookers looked on in terror while icy, blue eyes stared unblinkingly never to see again.<p>

G clicked his tongue as he put the safety back on his handgun and strode casually out of the alleyway he was concealed in. He stopped a few feet away from the children and teens to let them calm down a bit so that they could recognize him and know that he didn't mean any harm. That tactic didn't work out very well for the two teens who stared wide-eyed back at him.

The short, brown-haired teen in particular acted as if he had already died and gone to heaven - or hell, from the expression he was making. He didn't seem able to make out a coherent sentence either, "Y-you're...d-dea...G...g-g-ghost!" He let out a small, slightly hysterical laugh before falling into a dead faint.

It seemed as if the shock of seeing someone killed before his eyes before being splattered by said person's blood, seeing an apparent "ghost", and finding out that he had escaped death's grasp by mere inches had finally gotten to him.

G raised an eyebrow in bemusement before slowly starting forward,"_O-oi-_" only to shift back to avoid a sharp blade that had suddenly manifested before him. He narrowed his eyes at the ebony-haired teen who had until now been motionless. Sharp, dangerous, amber eyes glared back at him as he took a protective stance in front of his brown-haired companion. A stance that would have seemed more dangerous if the back of his sword wasn't facing him.

The first storm guardian growled in annoyance as he glared back with the same intensity. Normally he would have been more compassionate, but he had just gotten back from an exhausting and dangerous mission only to find his hometown being attacked by maniacs - again. And there was something about these two that set him on edge, as if their appearance meant trouble. It was safe to say he wasn't in a great mood.

He switched to Japanese,"Look, I don't know who you two are, but I'm not going to hurt you. I only want to help." Yelling wasn't going to help him right now and he knew that the teen was only protecting his friend. Plus, it was obvious the other was exhausted and he didn't want to fight him. To show his peace, he rasied up both of hands in a surrendering motion as he watched the other teen slowly lower his sword though he still watched him warily.

G sighed and blew a lock of red hair out of his face and started forward again. He really wanted a smoke at the moment, but ignored his urge in favor of assessing the four minors in front of him. He recognized the other two children. _'Shawn, Lena, are you two alright?' _He received two hesitant nods in turn from where they were still stiffly standing by the fountain._ 'What happened here?'  
><em>  
>Shawn gave a hesitant look at Yamamoto who was silently watching the conversation before speaking hoarsely,<em>'Me and Lena were by the docks when those demon came again. We were trying to make it back home, but we were blocked off so we hid in a tool shed until the coast was clear, but...I didn't see those two men when we ran...'<em> He then looked guiltily at the ground and refused to look up until he was startled by a warm hand that settled on top of his head. He glanced up to see G giving him a small smile.

_'You did a good job protecting your friend though.'_ His lips nearly twitched into a smile again at the blush that tinted the kid's face before ushering them off, _'Go home. Don't worry, we got everything covered here.' _

He watched them slowly walk off when Lena suddenly turned around again, all tensed up, _'Thank you for saving us!'_ before grabbing her astonished friend's hand and running off. G blinked at them before turning back to the two teens and met a questioning stare.

He stared back before asking,"Who are -" when he was cut off _again. _

_"_Baseball Freak!"  
>"OH! YAMAMOTO!"<p>

G snarled and the last of his patience finally crumbled as he jerked around to scream at the people who were yelling when the words died in his throat and he stared in shock and horror at the two who were running straight at him. Two people who looked scarily similar to two people he knew - and one of them was himself.

Shocked emerald eyes stared back at him as he and his companion slowed to a stop. G merely stared when Asari came barreling around the corner with two of his swords in his hand and looking as if he had crashed into a crate if the saw dust meant anything. The two parties stared in shock at each other when Gokudera's gaze landed on Tsuna and the silence was broken.

"Jyuudaime!" Ignoring the shocked protest that came from someone-he-didn't-care-who he swiftly ran to Tsuna's side and checked him over. He had never been so relieved when he felt a strong pulse from his wrist. Glancing at the blood that covered him, he nearly grinned when he realized it was his, but stiffened when a soft voice spoke up, "I'm sorry."

He glanced to the side to see Yamamoto looking up at the sky and away from them; Gokudera gave him an unreadable look before scoffing, "Don't say sorry to me you idiot. Say sorry to jyuudaime when he wakes up." He paused and lowered his voice so the others couldn't hear, "And wipe that pathetic look off your face. The job of the rain guardian is supposed to be 'a blessed shower that settles conflict and washes everything away' not a storm that creates floods. You better do better next time."

He ignored the look of surprise that Yamamoto gave him and studiously turned away when a large grin spread across his face, "Haha, you're right Gokudera...I will. After all, you're taking your role seriously now."**(1)**

Gokudera merely grunted and turned to give a hard stare at the two 1st generation guardians who were watching them suspiciously. _'I assume you want us to come with you?' _Before they were able to reply, Ryohei spoke up.

"Hey...where did that porcupine head go?" They all looked over at Ryohei who looked unnaturally serious. G suddenly stiffened.

_'Shit!'_ He turned to see where he had last seen the brunet enemy, but he wasn't there. Asari gave G a grave look before turning his gaze to the others,_'Yes, you must. You are all in danger now.' _

As Asari and G heatedly whsipered to each other a few feet away, Gokudera glanced at Yamamoto who crouched and carefully hauled Tsuna on his back. Normally, he would have insisted on carrying the Tenth, but decided not to. He mentally scoffed as they moved at a swift pace towards the mansion and ignored the glances the 1st generation guardians were giving them. As far as he was concerned, he was just repaying back the favor for Yamamoto literally knocking sense back into him **(1)**.

**oOoOo**

Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Ryohei couldn't help, but gape in awe at the Vongola mansion as they stood in front of the grand oak doors. A manicured lawn surrounded the property and camellia bushes pressed against the sides of the limestone building which was wrapped around in ivy. Bullet-proof glass windows were set into the walls and a dark-tiled roof topped off the three story mansion. The edge of a small garden could be seen in the back.

Really the only thing that made it stand out as the headquarters for one of the largest mafia groups of the time were some guards that surrounded the property. It seemed that since Vongola was still in its early reign, they were not yet the top mafia family that they were in the present.

They all followed Asari as he led them through the maze of hallways while G went off, presumably to find Giotto. He stopped at a worn, steel door and gave them all an apologetic glance as he opened it, "I apologize for our lack of hospitality, but we we can't afford to make mistakes right now...don't worry, we'll be back later. We merely wish for your cooperation."

They took in his weary and worried eyes before shuffling through the door and soon, it closed with a rusty creak and a slam. The group blinked at the interior. It looked nothing like the prison cell they were expecting. Rather, it looked like a normal Italian room with plush red carpet, tan wallpaper, and a lone window set in the corner. An old chandelier that hung from the ceiling was the only source of light and some cobwebs clung to the wooden ceiling. The only thing off about it was that it lacked any furniture except for a table and some chairs and the two people that were sitting against the wall.

They all blinked in surprise, "Hibari! Lambo!"

Hibari glanced at them before closing his eyes again and leaning his head back against the wall, but Lambo gave them one, long wide-eyed look, then bawled his eyes out, running up to them.

"WAAAH! AHO-DERA!" He grabbed onto Gokudera's leg and hung on ignoring the mortified glare sent his way.

"What the hell, you stupid cow!" No amount of shaking would dislodge the afro-head and Gokudera sighed in exasperation while Yamamoto laughed merrily. Ryohei was back to normal and gave a loud shout of "EXTREME!" which finally seemed to be the breaking point for Hibari who was trying to ignore the noise and crowd.

"Shut up, or I'll bite you all to death." Yamamoto looked over at Hibari.

"Eh? Hibari, did they take your metal sticks?" Gokudera wasn't sure whether the resulting glare was because of Yamamoto's insulting name for his tonfas or the fact that he was pointing out the obvious.

**oOoOo**

A dull throbbing pounded in his head as Tsuna slowly came to. He wasn't quite awake yet - somewhere in between the land of wakefulness and sleep, but he could hear some voices drifting through his thoughts, dull murmurs and harsh whispers.

He groaned as the pain of several bruises and cuts made themselves known including the burning pain he felt in his chest and suddenly the voices quieted. He felt his weight being shifted as he was set on something soft and felt the wall against his back. Blearily, he opened his eyes and blurry figures swarmed into his vision as he attempted to stop the room from swirling by placing a hand against his eyes.

Worried voices who he recognized as his friends questioned him and he slowly nodded as he collected his thoughts. Suddenly, something struck him as strange and he removed his hand from his eyes as he blinked at the room.

"...Where are we?"

Yamamoto and Gokudera glanced at each other before Gokudera promptly replied, "The Vongola Mansion, in the 1600s." That certainly woke him up.

"W-what!" He cut off in harsh coughs as some of his guardians hovered in concern.

"Juudaime?"

"Sawada! Are you not okay?"

Tsuna leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes and he winced slightly in discomfort, "S-sorry. I'm okay. It was just from that punch from that guy eariler..."

"I WILL HEAL YOU TO THE EXTREME!" Ryohei shouted in excitement and placed his hand over Tsuna's chest to heal him, but no flames came out, "Eh?"

"Flames don't work." The unexpected reply from Hibari had them glancing over at him, but he refused to say anything further. But some of them had already known that though they weren't sure why the flames weren't working.

Ryohei frowned slightly in displeasure, but perked up again when Tsuna gave him a small smile, "It's okay, onii-san..."

A few minutes of silence went back as they contemplated their current situation.

Tsuna looked at the steel door in interest, but fidgeted nervously. It felt like they had been there for at least ten minutes already,"Did...primo...come by?" Gokudera shook his head.

"No, juudaime." Suddenly, there was the sound of muffled shouts and he turned to the window. "It seems as if there's trouble outside though."

When that was said they all scrambled over the large window to take a look outside, but yelped in surprise as a person suddenly misted into view. Heterochromatic eyes and a mischievous smirk met their astonished gazes as Lambo screamed in fear and clung to Tsuna who reflexively caught him as he leaned against the wall by the window to ease up his lungs. An ominous air suddenly filled the air and they all shivered.

"You..." Mukuro dodged the fist that barely missed his head and turned to face the irate cloud guardian. It seemed that Hibari's ire for Mukuro couldn't be held back even when he was weaponless and injured.

"Oh, what is this? A cornered cat?" He smirked, "Or a caged bird?" That wasn't smart of Mukuro to say as the kick that was aimed at his stomach actually managed to graze him.

"Ma, ma, this isn't the time to play around." Yamamoto attempted to calm them down, but his choice of words seemed to further irritate them.

Just as they were about to attack each other again, a shout sounded through the window, louder than before. That had them all freezing in place.

Mukuro huffed and spoke with slight irritation,"The townspeople are angry."

As a group, besides Mukuro and Hibari, they peeked out the window to see what was happening. Underneath the towering trees that surrounded the Vongola mansion, a crowd of townspeople stood beneath the shade as thunder sounded from above. And the person standing his ground against them was none other than Giotto Taru, the Vongola Primo.

**oOoOo**

G stood slightly off to the side, looking as emotionless as a rock if it wasn't for the worry in his eyes. He could feel the other guardians hidden in the shadows somewhere behind him, but he knew that they knew not to interfere in this.

He narrowed his eyes at the bitter wind that was blowing dry leaves around them and watched the crowd warily even though he wanted to do nothing more than stand by his best friend's side, especially because of the look on his face. Though he was only 20, in that moment, Giotto looked as old and weary as a soldier fighting a losing war.

They both watched as the crowd slowly shifted down the middle and the young man that had spoken to Chrome and Gokudera earlier in the day stepped towards the front of group. Though it was fairly hard to see his face in the dusk, his clenched and trembling fists could be seen. The crowd who had been shouting earlier, quieted down as they backed off a little.

A haunting silence ensued and the only thing that could be head was the wind whistling through the tree branches when a quiet voice spoke out of the darkness.

_'Giotto...I know you are trying to resolve this problem, but this can't go on any longer! How many people are going to die before those demons stop!'_ The townspeople gave muttered agreements before silencing again. Though they too wanted to speak up, they knew that the young man in front of the group had a right to speak today.

Giotto stood in silence for a few seconds,_'Leo...listen...'_ He stopped when a growl reached his ears.

_'No! You listen!'_ The primo blinked in shock before he regained his composure and the unreadable mask was back on his face. _'My father died tonight...that's thirteen people so far. Thirteen people who lost their lives to them because you can't do anything!'_ He raised his fist and faster than lightning, he struck out against Giotto who did nothing to defend himself even though it he could have. The fist landed solidly against his cheek and blood trickled out from his mouth.

_'Primo!'_ G stepped forward angrily, but Giotto held up a hand and he backed off reluctantly.

_'All this time...when others were doubting you...I believed in you because you always kept your promises. Back when we were kids, you always kept your word over the stupidest things.'_ Leo paused to take a deep breath and when he looked up his grey eyes were bright with unshed tears. '_But w__hen you created the vigilante group...you swore you would protect this town with your life...'_ Giotto didn't move from his position and made no words of agreement or disagreement. _'I guess I was wrong.'_

Leo abruptly turned and wove his way through the crowd before disappearing from view. The group of townspeople looked back and forth between the two before coming to a decision and silently turned away from Giotto as a group. G and Giotto watched them as they made their way downhill. Soon, nothing of them could be seen, but black specks in the darkness. Not one of them turned back.

_'I really screwed up this time, huh G...?' _G placed a comforting hand on Giotto's shoulder and turned him so that they faced the mansion. They slowly started back and Giotto glanced at the shadowed window where he knew there were people waiting to see him. Mentally, he sighed in exhaustion.

**oOoOo**

The guardians in the room stared, but skittered out of view of the window when Giotto's gaze landed on them. They couldn't believe what just happened.

"...Something's wrong." Gokudera's voice broke them out of their reverie and they all looked at him. "This event never happened. I never read about it in the Vongola History."

Yamamoto gave him a strange look,"Don't they have more important things to write about than the Primo getting punched by an old friend?"

Gokudera bristled, "Idiot! Not that! I meant this whole event with the demons and the flame infused-guns they have! None of it happened."

None of it _had _happened. The implied meaning shook them to the core.

"T-then that means..." Tsuna's eyes widened as he finally understood what was implied.

Gokudera nodded solemnly, "Someone is rewriting history."

The steel door suddenly creaked open and some of them couldn't help, but gulp in nervousness when they saw nearly all the 1st generation there except for Lampo and Daemon.

Giotto looked at them all gravely and they tactfully ignored the growing bruise on his face, "I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting."

**oOoOo**

_Unknown_

A tan man with brown hair so dark that it was almost black stumbled through the doorway of a shadowed room. His cold, cyan eyes stared humbly at the ground as the door shut close behind him with a resounding and final click.

He was the man that had escaped earlier.

Looking up slightly, he addressed the person that was in the room, trying to keep the fear out of his voice,_'Boss, I've failed my mission, but I gained important information.'_

The shadowed figure in the room shifted slightly,_'Oh? Do tell.'_

_'At around 0600 hours my partner and I were unable to complete our mission because we were stopped by teenagers that looked very similar to the rain guardian and the Vongola Primo. They did not use flames, but one of them was very adept at martial arts and the other, sword-fighting.'_

The shadowed figure seemed to muse to himself for a moment, _'Interesting...I've received the same intel from other subordinates who were also stopped by teens that looked similar to the Primo and his guardians.'_

The man stood stiffly in fear as he raised his eyes. Icy sea-green eyes stared back at him and he gulped. _'How well did you think you handled your mission?' _

_'N-not very w-well, sir!' _

He hummed, and said almost kindly, _'But you've done well in receiving this information unlike your partner, no? So I'll think I'll let you off this time.' _He clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them_. 'Go.'_

The man bowed gratfeully, 'You are too kind, boss!'

Just as he turned around to leave, a gunshot rang throughout the room and the man jerked before falling forward. The boss swiftly clicked the safety back on his handgun and put it back in his holster. For a moment, the man looked almost regretful before his cold exterior took place again.

_'Kind...eh? Just kind enough to let you leave the cruel mafia world...' _The boss turned to the side to face his right-hand man who was hidden in the shadows. _'Dispose of him.' _The man nodded and quickly did to do as he was told.

The door opened for merely a few seconds before it was closed again, but in that few moments of light, it revealed the boss to be a slender, young man in his early twenties with sea green eyes, and auburn hair. He had pale skin and nothing was unusual about him except for the angry red scar the cut through his left eye.

The man turned his chair to face the window and watched the rain as it pattered against his window with sharp, tiny fists. He watched the lightning flash across the sky and mused to himself silently. Everything was so far happening as what that white haired man had said three years ago.

_'I'll make you feel the same pain you made me feel, Giotto.'_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Extra: Yamamoto Takeshi<em>**

When Yamamoto Takeshi was younger, life was perfect. He had a loving mom and dad, he did exceptionally well in school, and he had lots of friends. In preschool, other toddlers would talk and play with him, comforted by his warm smile and bright eyes. People were naturally drawn to him because of his kind and inviting personality.

Then, when he found his affinity for baseball during elementary school, life was even better. He got even more friends and then even admirers; every time he hit a home run with his little wooden bat during a game at his elementary school, his mother would cheer excitedly while he father would smile proudly at him. They were always at every game.

Even though he decided not to follow his father's footsteps and learn to wield a sword, his father was still proud of him all the same. And he was happy that he was so good at the game his mother loved. Everything was perfect and nothing was wrong. He believed in this for a long time, that is until _that _happened.

Until his mother was killed.

His mother had worked for a clothing store in Namimori Mall called _Nami Apparels _on the third story. Every month when she got her wages, she would always buy him something baseball-related whether they be a shirt, a necklace, a ball, or whatever came to mind. Once, she even bought him a baseball cake for her birthday. (He still had all those little trinkets and non-perishable items stashed in his closet). She would always come home with a bright smile on her face shouting "I'm home!" to all the occupants in the sushi shop who would always greet back cheerfully as they were used to her cheerful attitude of Masaki Yamamoto.

But there was one day where she didn't come home and that was when a careless thief had crashed into her and sent her careening over the side of the rail of the 3rd story as she was making her way to the escalator and he was attempting to escape the security guard from the jewelry store. She had barely managed to survive, but the fall had broken her back and caused internal damage to her brain.

He was 8 when his father had grasped his small, innocent hand into his own large, calloused one and led him into a room - _it was too white_ _white white_ - that was filled with medicine, machinery, and bustling doctors and nurses - _the noise was deafening and the smell of alcohol and antiseptic choked him._ His mother was pale and barely breathing as the doctor sadly took her off life support - _the bed swallowed her up and the machines were no longer making sounds, but he wanted them too. He wanted her to be breathing normally. He wanted her to be smiling. He wanted the doctor to save her, why wasn't he saving her!_.

As he stood there in shock all those years ago, his mother had slowly - _so painfully slow_ - turned her head towards him one last time and give him a weary smile. He barely felt his father's slowly tightening hand as she placed a gentle _- but too cold -_on his cheek and softly said her last words, "I l-love you two so much and I don't...w-want to leave you two, but please don't...let this hurt you more than it does now..." She broke out into a fit of coughs and they could do nothing, but watch,"L-live your lives to the fullest...so that I can see the f-future with you...don't let your anger consume you...it wasn't his fault." Then she had whispered her last sentence to him, "Smile for me...one last time...won't you Take..shi...?" before her hand had dropped and the heart monitor had sputtered into a long, drawn out drone.

The funeral was small, and only close friends and relatives were invited, but she was well loved by many. When the rain poured down that day, it seemed almost poetic, as if the rain was all the tears that her friends and family had shed for her. And little Takeshi had complied with her last wish as he stared at her face one last time as she lay in the casket. He gave her a small, broken smile.

And he continued to smile. He smiled everyday, and smiled so wide it hurt, but he continued because he didn't know how to do stop. Soon, he focused more on baseball than schoolwork until he was borderline failing in each class. He kept telling his father he was 'fine' until he finally stopped asking and merely frowned worriedly at him every time he came home.

By the time he had gotten to high school, he had forgotten what it was like to give a real smile, and nothing was more important to him than baseball. As he grew up he noticed that all his friends and admirers were nothing more than people vying for attention to climb up the ladder to popularity and admiration. None of them understood him, or tried to - all they wanted was to be friends with him for their own personal gain. None of them noticed when everyday his smile started cracking and he lost more and more faith in the people who called themselves his friends; nothing changed until that day he broke his arm and couldn't play baseball.

When he heard the other boys complaining about how he would be useless now that he can't play baseball, and the girls weren't doing anything, but feeling pity or scorn for him, he decided that he should get rid of his uselessness by ending his life. There was nothing else to live for anyway and he always failed at everything else. His father would be able to get over this just like he had when his wife had died.

When he had decided to jump of the roof for Namimori, it wasn't just on a whim. He had been thinking of this for a long time and he wanted to feel the same pain that his mother had during her last moments so that he could remember her during his last moments too. He had never hated the man who killed her because it was her wish and he wasn't that kind of person, but looking down at the ground way below him, he couldn't help the bitter feeling that rose within him. He wasn't sure what it was.

_"I'm sorry, kaa-san. I can't live life and see the future for you if I can't see what I'm living for."_

Somewhere deep inside him, he wanted someone to run up and stop him, to show that they really cared, but no one stepped up. They all stood back, too afraid to do anything besides yelling meaningless things. Ignoring the other people shouting behind him, he was about to take a step into the open air when _his voice _had shouted the loudest above the others and stepped forward when no one else would. It was Tsuna's voice - the voice of a supposed loser - that had made him realize the fatal mistake that he had nearly made. The mistake that had almost cost him his life.

_"In fact, I'm a pathetic person who would have regrets when dying..."_

Just because he broke his arm didn't mean it wouldn't heal. And...he would definitely have regrets when dying. There were still things he hadn't done, things he didn't see, and he hadn't even made true friends yet. Why did he want to die again?

He still hadn't found what to live for yet.

_"Thinking if I'm going to die...I should've done it with my dying will."_

But he was wrong. There were things to live for - people to live for. _  
><em>

His father **would **be sad. He would only be putting his father through the pain of losing another person he loved once again. Alone at home, waiting for his last remaining family member to walk through the door shouting, "I'm home!" when no one would.

And...somehow he knew that Tsuna would be sad too. Even though he had known Tsuna since kindergarten, they hadn't spoken more than a handful of words to each other throughout the years and yet in his moment of need, Tsuna had been the only one to be there for him. In that moment, he knew that Tsuna will always be someone important to him, someone who he would gladly follow and give his life for, someone who he would be proud to call a best friend - a brother.

And with a start, he suddenly realized the bitter feeling that rose within him earlier was resignation and _fear. _He didn't want to die yet.

The next step he had taken, was backwards - back on the right path, and when he trudged through the doorway of the sushi shop later in the afternoon a little bruised and scraped from actually falling off the roof (he never wanted to go through that again), he gave his father a real, true smile.

The crushing embrace he had received in return told him that he hadn't made a mistake deciding to live again.

* * *

><p><strong>(1): <strong>Volume 17, Ch. 151. Refers to Yamamoto's quote to Gokudera when he tried to fight Ganma by himself. _"A right hand man is supposed to be...the leader of the guardians whom the boss can count on this most, isn't it? You're supposed to pull the guardians together!" _Yamamoto had interfered in the fight and made Gokudera realize that what he was doing was wrong. Later the two fought together to defeat Ganma.

**A/N**: Yes, after months of not updating I decided to be mean and scare you guys in the beginning. I wonder how many I actually did scare, but surely you must have realized that I couldn't write the story without Tsuna? *gets glared at by several readers* Haha ^^' yes, I can just feel the love. It took me 8 hours to write this and edit it...

Hopefully I made up for it with the extra on Yamamoto? Really, it was on a whim that I did it since I wanted to write about why the characters are they way they are, but I get the feeling I made him a really sad person. My bad. I went way too in depth in this chapter.

Rant to me in the reviews?


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